/ 


9 


z         Ga 


fcrC^/,,. 


% 


««Ltfttxl  1 


GEOEGIA. 


71 V 


CHARLES    C.    JONES,    J R 


George  Washington  Flowers 
Memorial  Collection 

DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


ESTABLISHED  BY  THE 

FAMILY  OF 

COLONEL  FLOWERS 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS 


OP 


GEORGIA 


BY 


CHARLES    C.    JONES,    Jr, 


PART    FIRST. 


SAVANNAH: 

JOHN    M.    COOPER    AND    COMPANY. 

1861. 


M  Y    F  A  T  H  E  R , 

THSSB 

9t0K0grsgfcfl 

ARE 
a  FFECTIONATELY   INSCRIBED, 


R,  S.R 


1 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2011  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/monumentalremain01jone 


a.  w>$®xttm. 


Jitjsi  ^0U00tajrb. 


Lord  Bacon,  in  his  "Advancement  of  Learning," 

compares  antiquities  and  historical  fragments,  which 
have  accidentally  escaped  the  ravages  of  decay,  to  the 
scattered,  but  still  floating  planks  of  a  ship-wrecked 
vessel ;  and  commends  to  the  industrious  student  of  his- 
tory, a  careful  observation  of  all  monuments,  relics,  and 
ancient  traditions,  in  order  that  somewhat  may  be  saved 
and  recovered  from  the  deluge  of  time. 

The  antiquities  of  our  State,  have  always  appeared  to 
me,  deserving  of  more  attention,  and  worthy  a  higher 
consideration  than  that,  with  which  they  are  usually  re- 
garded. Although,  like  Fame,  they  may  stand  with 
muffled  heads,  and  tell  but  uncertain  tales;  although 
the  waves  of  time,  in  their  ceaseless  flow,  may  have  ob- 
literated much  that  is  certain ;  and  the  fiat  of  remorse- 
less decay,  doomed  to  silence  and  forgetfulness,  many  of 
the  most  engaging  and  valuable  memories  of  the  Past, 
yet,  we  must  all  recognize  the  fact,  that  the  same  in- 
evitable law,  which  robs  the  ancient  column  of  its  beau- 
tiful mouldings,  and  delicate  flutings,  also  plants  the 
encircling  ivy  at  its  base,  and  places  a  seal  of  consecra- 
tion upon  its  time-stained  capital. 


8  MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

The  study  of  antiquity,  necessarily  involves  an  inves- 
tigation of  many  of  the  most  important  problems  of 
human  history.  Especially  interesting  becomes  the  in- 
quiry, when  it  leads  us  to  the  consideration  of  remains 
and  monuments  —  the  only  organic  memorials  of  a  peo- 
ple, who  preceded  us  in  the  occupancy  of  that  land,  for 
which  we  all  entertain  those  abiding  attachments,  which 
are  the  offspring  of  birth,  education,  and  association. 

The  Indian  no  longer  walks  the  soil  he  once  cherished 
with  such  ardent  devotion.  lie  has  looked  for  the  last 
time,  upon  the  flowing  rivers,  noble  mountains,  and 
beautiful  valleys  of  Georgia  —  once  all  his  own. 

In  obedience  to  the  law  of  progress,  the  weaker  and 
the  more  ignorant  race  disappears  before  the  conquering 
march  of  the  stronger,  and  the  more  enlightened. 

Their  names  perished,  when  the  forest  tree,  expanding 
in  the  soft  air  and  warm  sunlight  of  spring,  threw  off 
the  rind  upon  which  they  were  rudely  graven.  The 
fragile  hut,  which  sheltered  them  from  the  summer 
storm,  fell  with  the  withered  leaf  of  Autumn.  Upon 
the  surface  of  our  streams  and  harbors,  are  seen  no  fur- 
rows traced  by  their  graceful  canoes.  Their  traditional 
songs,  and  historical  legends,  have  vanished  with  the  last 
memory  which  retained  —  with  the  last  voice  which  re- 
peated them. 

Well  may  the  sorrowing  Indian,  as  he  turns  with  a 
last  lingering  look  from  the  pleasant  abodes  of  his 
Fathers,  exclaim :  — 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  \3 

"They  waste  us  —  ay,  like  April  snew 
In  the  warm  noon,  we  shrink  away  j 
And  fast  they  follow,  as  we  go 
Towards  the  setting  day  — 

Till  they  shall  fill  the  land,  and  we 
Are  driven  into  the  western  sea.'* 

Here  and  there,  however,  still  exist  scattered  monu- 
ments, fast  yielding  to  the  despoiling  hand  of  man,  and 
the  remorseless  attacks  of  time  —  truth-speaking  relics, 
which  tell  of  their  arts  of  war,  of  the  chase,  of  their 
domestic  manners  —  and  above  all,  consecrated  mounds 
and  burial  places,  suggesting  a  belief  in  a  future  exis- 
tence,—  organic  remains  in  the  history  of  the  Indians, 
evidencing  the  fact,  that  the  savage  breast  was  not  insen- 
sible to  those  traits  of  humanity  —  respect  for  the  dead, 
and  veneration  for  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  de- 
parted —  which  have  been,  in  all  ages,  held  in  esteem 
and  honor. 

It  is  due  to  the  Race  that  is  gone,  that  the  poetic  and 
suggestive  names,  with  which  they  have  invested  the 
prominent  natural  objects  within  the  limits  of  our  State, 
should  remain  unchanged  —  still  cherishing  the  memo- 
ries of  those,  who  first  looked  upon,  and  admired  their 
beauties.  It  is  demanded  by  the  inquiries  of  the  present, 
that  every  scattered  fragment,  every  grass-grown  monu- 
ment, left  by  the  Indian,  should  be  carefully  noted,  in- 
telligently examined,  and  so  far  as  may  be,  industriously 
preserved. 

Acting  under  this  belief,  and  for  the  accomplishment 


10  MONUMENTAL   REMAIN'S   OF  GEOR* 

of  this  end,  it  shall  be  our  purpose,  from  time  to  tim< 
as  opportunity  occurs,  to  visit  and  describe  the  mosl 
remarkable   remains   still   extant   in  Georgia;    thereby 
attempting,  by  analogy,  and  in  fact,  to  compass   the 

determination  of,  at  least  a  portion,  of  what  is  at  present 
almost  unwritten  history;  thereby  hoping  to  stimulate 
inquiry  and  investigation,  in  behalf  of  this  interesting 
subject. 

Four  miles  distant  from  the  city  of  Augusta,  at  a 
point  known  as  "  The  Wash  above  Warren's  Spring/' 
the  Augusta  canal  passes  through  a  small  hill,  gently 
sloping  toward  the  light  bank  of  the  Savannah  Biver. 
To  the  casual  observer,  there  is  little  of  interest  con- 
nected with  the  locality,  other  than  the  beautiful  river, 
— seen  through  the  luxuriant  vegetation  adorning  its 
banks  —  as  it  leaps  in  joyous  confusion  among  the  mairy 
rocks,  that  here  crop  out  in  every  direction  from  its 
time-worn  channel ;  and  the  gentle  undulations,  on 
either  hand,  lending  a  quiet  and  pleasing  attraction  to 
the  scene. 

A  closer  examination  however,  discloses  the  fact,  that 
this  must  have  been  a  constant,  and  favorite  resort  of  the 
Indians.  The  surface  of  the  ground,  for  an  area  of  seve- 
ral acres,  is  literally  covered  with  arrow  and  spear  heads 
—  fragments  of  pottery  —  stone  axes  —  occasional  rude 
mortars,  hollowed  in  flat  rocks  brought  from  the  bed  of 
the  river  —  pestles  —  soap  stone  ornaments  —  and  here 
and  there  a  pipe.     Again  and  again,  have  numbers  of 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  11 

these  remains  been  collected,  and  carried  away  by  the 
curious,  as  mementoes  of  the  place,  and  of  the  Eace  by 
whom  they  were  fashioned ;  and  still,  the  returning 
ploughshare  of  Spring,  each  season,  reveals  new  speci- 
mens of  the  handiwork  of  the  Ancients.  Abounding 
ever}^ where,  are  quantities  of  muscle,  clam,  and  snail 
shells,  there  deposited  by  the  Aborigine. 

That  the  spear  and  arrow  heads  were  frequently  here 
manufactured,  is  clearly  proven  by  the  fact,  that  num- 
bers of  them  may  be  found  in  an  unfinished  condition ; 
while  chips,  struck  from  the  silex  of  which  they  were 
forming  these  implements  of  war  and  of  the  chase,  lie 
scattered  in  every  direction. 

The  soap  stone  ornaments,  and  mortars,  also  indicate 
a  local  origin.  It  is  to  be  observed  however,  that  the 
axes  and  hatchets,  are  formed  generally  of  e}Tanite,  a 
mineral  not  found  in  this  vicinity.  The  pipes  are  made 
of  steatite.  Occasionally  are  seen  —  intermixed  with  the 
soil  —  the  bones  of  large  fishes  and  animals.  There  ap- 
pears to  be  in  the  neighborhood,  an  absence  of  mounds 
and  burial  places.  This  fact  we  shall  subsequently 
show,  is  susceptible  of  a  very  natural  and  positive  ex- 
planation. Every  indication  points  to  the  conclusion, 
that  this  was  a  favorite  seat  of  the  Indians ;  and  the  rea- 
son why  it  was  selected  as  a  place  of  resort,  becomes  evi- 
dent upon  a  moment's  reflection.  The  adjacent  swamps 
and  alluvial  bottoms,  with  their  original  tangled  under- 
growth, must  have  constituted  an  attractive  cover  for 


12  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

game.     The  river,  flowing  near,  furnished  not  only  a 
never  failing  supply   of  water,    but   also   afforded  an 

abundance  of  fish  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  Just  here 
occur  the  rapids  in  the  Savannah.  From  the  projecting 
rocks,  and  numerous  boulders  which  lie  exposed  in  the 
current,  admirable  opportunities  were  presented  for 
spearing  the  fish,  as  they  glided  through  the  shallow 
sluices,  or  rested  sluggishly  in  the  circling  eddies. 

We  are  informed  that  at  the  present  day,  in  the 
Spring  of  the  year,  a  shad  fishery  is  here  conducted 
with  marked  success. 

It  is  well  ascertained,  that  the  Indians  located  their 
permanent  settlements,  with  direct  reference  to  the  natu- 
ral advantages,  and  physical  resources  of  the  place 
selected.  The  presence  of  fish,  game  and  water,  was 
indispensably  necessary,  both  to  the  convenience  and 
support  of  tribes,  who  had  not  advanced  in  civilization 
beyond  the  hunter  state  —  who  relied  upon  the  spear, 
the  bow,  and  the  arrow,  as  the  principal  means  of  obtain- 
ing their  subsistence  —  who  cultivated  the  soil  only  to 
a  very  limited  extent,  and  then  simply  by  partially 
loosening  the  earth  with  the  scapula  of  a  deer  or  a  bison 

—  who  erected,  as  a  shelter  from  the  inclement  elements, 
buildings  of  the  slightest  and  most  perishable  materials, 

—  and  who  could,  at  a  moment's  warning,  change  their 
abodes  without  loss  or  inconvenience,  locating  anew, 
where  ever  fancy,  pleasure,  or  necessity  might  suggest. 

This  spot  may  have  been  used  by  them  simply  as  a 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA.  13 

rendezvous,  for  the  purposes  of  fishing  and  hunting  dur- 
ing the  Spring  or  Summer  months  of  each  year ;  but 
we  incline  to  the  opinion,  that  it  was  a  fixed  settlement, 
and  that  the  peculiar  attractions  of  the  spot,  received  at 
their  hands,  a  general  and  permanent  recognition. 

There  may,  and  probably  do  exist  at  particular  points 
along  the  banks  of  the  Savannah,  and  other  Eivers  of 
our  State,  localities  possessing  like  indications ;  but  we 
doubt  if  many  can  be  found,  abounding  to  such  a 
"narked  degree,  in  varied  remains  and  relics  —  all  attrib- 
utable to  a  purely  Indian  origin. 

Here  they  lie,  speaking  memorials  of  an  almost  for- 
gotton  race,  — like  sea-shells  found  where  the  ocean  has 
been,  to  tell  that  the  great  tide  of  life  was  once  there. 

A  mile  and  a  half  above  the  place,  where  the  Augusta 
canal  takes  its  inception  —  near  the  middle  of  the 
Savannah  Eiver  —  is  Stalling's  Island,  forming  one 
of  that  numerous  and  beautiful  group  of  islets,  known 
in  the  neighborhood,  as  "the  thousand  Isles."  On  the 
right  bank  of  the  river,  rise  the  attractive  hills  of  Geor- 
gia—  their  flanks  covered  with  luxuriant  vegetation  — 
their  crests  yielding  a  generous  annual  harvest,  to  re- 
ward the  toil  of  the  husbandman  —  while  on  the  other 
hand,  the  sister  slopes  of  Carolina,  rejoice  in  the  same 
warm  sunlight.  The  river,  here  buoyant  with  life  and 
animation,  leaps  joyfully  from  rock  to  rock,  now  rush- 
ing gayly  through  the  sluices  of  the  descending  rapids, 
now  pausing  ever  and  anon,  with  eddying  tide  to  dally 


14  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

with  the  green  slopes,  and  kiss  the  pendant  branches  of 
the  forest  trees,  as  they  stoop  to  the  refreshing  influ- 
ences of  the  spray.  The  axe  of  the  woodsman  has 
left  unharmed  the  vegetation  of  many  of  these  little 
islands ;  some  of  them  rejoicing  still,  in  the  possession 
of  their  primeval  foliage. 

Stalling's  Island,  is  perhaps  some  six  acres  in  extent, 
—  its  shores  hidden  by  dense  masses  of  native  cane,  and 
indigenous  vines, — while  far  above  the  undergrowth, 
tower  in  conscious  pride,  and  unchecked  vigor,  the 
Beech,  the  Cotton  Tree,  the  Oatalpa,  the  Maple,  the 
Birch,  and  the  Sj^camore,  intermingling  their  graceful 
branches  of  varied  hue,  in  pleasing  harmony.  Spring- 
ing as  does  its  foliage  from  the  water's  edge,  this  Island 
appears  a  thing  of  life  and  beauty,  resting  quietly  upon 
the  bosom  of  the  ever-changing  tide. 

Near  the  center  of  'the  Island,  stands  a  most  remarka- 
ble and  interesting  Indian  Monument.  It  consists  of 
a  mound,  whose  area  is  somewhat  less  than  an  acre  — 
inform  elliptical  —  with  a  diameter  in  the  direction  of 
the  major  axis,  of  about  three  hundred  feet,  and  a  diam- 
eter in  the  direction  of  the  minor  axis,  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet.  The  average  elevation  of  this  tumu- 
lus, appeared  to  be  some  twenty  feet,  or  more.  It  looks 
to  the  north-east  and  south-west. 

The  approaches  seemed  to  have  been  made  from  either 
end  of  the  mound,  but  especially  from  the  south-eastern 
extremity;    the   ascent   there,  being  far   more  gradual 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA.  15 

than  at  the  other  sides.  The  surface  is  generally  quite 
level,  with  however,  an  observable  depression  toward 
the  central  portion,  thereby  causing  an  apparent  eleva- 
tion at  either  end.  The  symmetry  of  the  south-eastern 
side,  has  been  somewhat  impaired,  in  all  probability  by 
the  action  of  the  river  current  during  a  severe  freshet  in 
years  long  since  past.  There,  the  wall  of  the  mound  is 
perpendicular,  and  its  contents  may  be  easily  ascertained 
upon  a  casual  examination. 

A  distinguishing  peculiarity,  which  at  once  engages 
the  attention,  and  excites  the  astonishment  of  the  obser- 
ver, is,  that  this  tumulus  is  composed  in  chief,  of  the 
muscle,  clam,  and  snail  shells  of  the  river.  Probably 
three-fourths  of  its  bulk  consist  of  this  material.  The 
imagination  almost  fails  intelligently  to  estimate  the 
labor,  the  persevering,  the  continuous,  the  enormous 
labor,  which  collected  this  immense  mass.  These  shells 
were  doubtless,  all  obtained  from  the  circumfluent  river, 
and  its  tributaries ;  but  who  will  calculate  the  countless, 
weary  miles  traversed  in  the  industrious  search  for 
them;  who  reckon  aright  the  days,  weeks,  months, 
years— yes,  centuries,  that  must  have  elapsed,  as  the 
toil  of  one  generation  was  added  to  that  of  another,  in 
order  that  this  tumulus  might  swell  into  its  present  stu- 
pendous proportions  ? 

Those  mighty  piles,  the  Pyramids, 

"Time's  gnomons,  rising  on  the  bank  of  Nile," 

are  unparalleled  examples  of  the  results,  which  may  be 


16  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

achieved  by  combined  physical  industry,  and  consecu- 
tive labor.  It  will  be  remembered  however,  that  Egypt 
was  converted  into  a  land  of  slaves^  to  raise  a  monument 
to  Cheops,  which  should  out  live  the  feeble  generations 
of  mankind.  Here  however,  we  have  a  mound,  —  the 
result  of  the  united  effort  of  many  generations  —  the  off- 
spring  of  inclination,  and  not  of  constraint  —  a  tumulus, 
designed  to  perpetuate,  not  the  empty  name  of  a  tyrant 
king,  but  the  devotion  which  the  Indians  of  this  region 
cherished  for  the  peace,  the  security,  the  memory  of 
their  dead. 

No  epitaph  gratifies  the  idle  curiosity  of  the  spectator, 
—  the  traditions  of  the  place  are  gone  —  the  dead,  who 
here  lie  entombed,  are  nameless  now ;  yet,  this  tumulus 
has  stood  for  centuries,  and  will  remain  for  ages  yet  to 
come,  a  speaking  commentary  upon  the  virtues,  the  in- 
dustry, and  the  humanity  of  the  Children  of  the  Forest. 

To  such  a  marked  degree  do  these  shells  enter  into 
the  composition  of  this  mound,  that  upon  its  summit, 
no  tree  or  shrub  flourishes  —  nothing  save  coarse  grass, 
and  occasional  cedars,  struggling  into  a  stunted  exist- 
ence. 

The  use  of  the  shell,  as  a  covering  for  their  tumuli, 
was  not  unfrequent  among  the  Indians  who  inhabited 
the  coast  regions  of  our  State;  their  object  apparently 
being,  with  the  aid  of  this  material  —  almost  indestructi- 
ble as  it  is  by  the  natural  elements,  — to  impart  a  per- 
manency to  the  graves  of  their  dead,  which  could  not 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA.  17 

otherwise  be  readily  attained.  From  the  extended  oys- 
ter beds  in  the  vicinity,  exhaustless  supplies  of  shells 
could  be,  and  readily  were  obtained.  The  present 
mound  however,  occupying  the  position  that  it  does,  is 
most  unique. 

Several  pits  have  been  opened  in  the  north-eastern 
end.  At  the  depth  of  twelve  feet,  the  amount  of  shells 
was  undiminished.  They  appear  to  have  been  distri- 
buted in  layers  of  eight  or  ten  inches  in  thickness,  with 
intervening  strata  of.  sand.  An  examination  into  the 
contents  of  the  mound,  proves  conclusively,  that  it  must 
have  been  used  only  for  burial  purposes  —  that  it  is  in 
fact,  a  huge  necropolis. 

It  could  not  have  been  the  work  of  a  year,  or  of  a 
generation.  Strata  upon  strata  have  been  heaped,  each 
covering  the  dead  of  its  age,  until  by  degrees,  and  with 
the  lapse  of  time,  (how  long,  who  can  tell  ?)  it  grew  into 
its  present  surprising  dimensions* 

Skeletons  abound.  One  of  them  in  particular  —  in  a 
reclining  posture  —  lay  with  the  head  to  the  north,  the 
palms  of  the  hands  resting  against  either  cheek.  From 
the  wrists  and  neck,  were  taken  numerous  shell  beads ; 
which,  when  strung,  filled  a  thread  nine  feet  in  length. 
Interesting  pipes  of  steatite,  and  axes  of  cyanite,  were 
also  exhumed.  Interspersed  in  every  direction,  appeared 
fragments  of  pottery.  No  traces  of  incineration  could 
be  perceived,  nor  were  any  specimens  of  metalic  con- 
struction ascertained  to  exist. 
3 


18  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

We  are  clearly  of  opinion,  that  this  mound  is  of 
purely  Indian  origin.  There  are  no  circumstances  or 
peculiarities,  suggesting  the  slightest  probability  of  its 
connection,  with  either  the  Toltec  or  Aztec  Race,  It  has 
nothing  in  common  with  the  monuments  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  or  with  those  anomalous  ruins  —  extant 
within  the  limits  of  our  own  State,  —  which  indicate  in 
far  distant  periods,  the  past  existence  of  a  people,  prior 
in  point  of  time,  and  superior  in  point  of  civilization,  to 
the  Indians  who  here  inhabited,  when  Georgia  was  first 
settled  by  the  whites. 

The  lower  portions  of  Stalling's  Island,  subject  as 
they  must  be  to  at  least  an  occasional  over-flow,  could 
never  have  been  inhabited  by  the  Indians.  In  order  to 
ensure  an  exemption  from  this  casualty,  selecting  the 
most  elevated  part  of  the  island,  they  there  erected  this 
immense  tumulus,  reaching  far  above  the  swollen  tide, 
wherein  the  dead  of  the  children  of  the  forest  might 
repose  in  undisturbed  silence  and  security. 

There  is  something  solemnly  affecting,  and  deeply  in- 
teresting in  the  thought,  that  by  common  consent,  this 
quiet,  retired,  beautiful  place,  should  have  been  conse- 
crated exclusively  to  the  purposes  of  burial.  The  ab- 
sence of  mounds  in  the  vicinity — the  unusual  dimen- 
sions of  this  tumulus  —  the  numerous  skeletons  en- 
tombed within  its  bosom  —  all  attest  the  fact,  that  this 
must  have  been  used  as  the  general  cemetery  of  the 
Tribes,  who  occupied  the  adjacent  hills  and  fruitful  val- 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA.  19 

leys.     No  more  attractive  spot,  no  more  suitable  loca- 
tion in  this  entire  region,  could  have  been  selected. 

Eemoved  from  the  noise  and  confusion  of  the  villages, 
and  yet  so  near,  that  the  bright  rays  of  the  fires,  nightly 
kindled  upon  either  bank,  shooting  athwart  the  darkling 
tide,  revealed  the  outlines  of  this  island  of  the  dead,  — 
away  from  the  forest  path,  trod  by  the  hunter — away 
from  the  conflicting  voices  of  the  council-lodge,  and  the 
wild  delights  of  the  place  of  feasting  and  dancing,  — 
and  yet,  just  where  the  eye  of  affection  could  ever  turn 
and  rest  upon  its  hallowed  form. 

It  is  at  all  times  a  fearful  thing  to  contemplate  the 
approach  of  death  ;  to  look  forward  to  an  occupancy  of 
that  lonely  dwelling,  prepared  for  all  the  living ;  and  yet, 
in  view  of  the  poetic  temperament  of  the  Indian  —  in 
view  of  the  peculiar  religious  belief  cherished  by  him, 
with  reference  to  a  future  state,  —  we  may  well  imagine 
how  pleasing  must  have  been  his  anticipations,  as  he 
regarded  this  mound-tomb,  —  rich  in  the  associations, 
the  consecrated  recollections  of  the  past  —  hallowed  by 
the  beloved  and  honored  dust  of  centuries  —  as  his  own 
final  resting  place;  as  the  starting  point,  whence  he 
himself,  when  the  light  of  his  wigwam  grew  dim,  might 
enter  upon  the  happy  journey  to  the  spirit  land,  and 
live  anew  amid  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  blest, 
whither  his  fathers  had  gone  before. 

Here  it  stands,  a  speaking  commentary  upon  that  re- 
spect for  the  dead,  that  veneration  for  departed  worth 


20  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA. 

and  affection,  that  sincere  respect  and  esteem  for  the 
bones  of  their  ancestors,  which  in  a  marked  degree, 
must  have  characterized  these  untutored  sons  of  nature. 

The  vulgar  tongue  that  talks  lightly  of  the  dead,  and 
the  vandal  hand  that  would  invade  the  sanctity  of  the 
tomb,  may  well  learn  here,  a  lesson  of  tender  and  abi- 
ding interest. 

No  wonder  the  Indians  loved  their  hunting  grounds 
—  their  pleasant  springs  —  and  above  all,  no  marvel 
that  they  clung  with  a  tenacity,  a  devotion  which  death 
alone  could  teach  them  to  forget,  to  the  burial  grounds, 
consecrated  for  centuries,  by  the  dust  of  their  fathers. 

"Who  will  recall  the  historic  associations  which  cluster 
about  this  silent,  and  yet  not  voiceless  tomb?  Who 
enumerate  the  vicissitudes  which  have  occurred,  since 
the  first  canoe,  with  measured  dip,  and  accompanying 
train  of  mourners,  landed  here  its  precious  burden? 
Whose  memory  will  recount  the  names,  numbers,  and 
lives  of  those  who  have  been  here  interred  ?  Who  tell 
the  day,  when  the  first  tear  was  shed  above  the  first 
sleeper,  when  they  laid  him  to  rest  beneath  the  sombre 
shadows  of  these  over-arching  trees?  What  changes! 
what  wars  and  commotions !  what  revolutions  of  States ! 
since  the  first  shell,  pure  and  bright  from  the  bosom  of 
the  limpid  river,  was  laid  upon  the  new-made  grave! 

The  hand  of  the  conqueror  has  been  heavily,  ruth- 
lessly laid  upon  those,  who  here  garnered  up  their 
choicest  and  most  sacred  affections.    Even  their  mem- 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA.  21 

ory  is  fading  from  the  recollection  of  those,  who  have 
supplanted  them  in  the  dominion  over  forest,  hill, 
and  river ;  and  yet  decay  —  more  kind  than  they  — 
leaves  untouched  this  sad  memorial  of  their  sorrows, 
this  striking  monument  of  their  affection,  and  venera- 
tion for  the  dead.  The  forest  trees,  with  their  sturdy 
roots,  protect  the  symmetry  of  the  mound  —  their  over- 
arching branches  shielding  its  outlines  from  the  ruthless 
influences  of  the  storm.  The  murmuring  voices  of  the 
'tream,  which  so  often  charmed  the  living  ear,  still  bring 
joy  and  gladness  as  in  days  of  yore ;  and  the  song-bird 
yet  warbles  sweetly  his  morning  and  evening  lays,  above 
the  sleeping  dead. 

All  else  is  hushed ;  save  the  whispers  of  the  passing 
air  amid  the  forest  branches,  the  startled  note  of  the 
solitary  water-fowl,  frightened  from  its  retreat  among 
the  reeds  by  the  passing  boat,  and  the  soothing  ripple 
of  the  river.     The  living  Indians,  where  are  they  ? 

"A  noble  race  !   but  they  are  gone, 

With  their  old  forests  wide  and  deep, 
And  we  have  built  our  homes  upon 

Fields,  where  their  generations  sleep. 
Their  fountains  slake  our  thirst  at  noon, 

Upon  their  fields  our  harvest  waves, 
Our  lovers  woo  beneath  their  moon,  — 

Then  let  us  spare  at  least  their  graves." 

The  warrior  —  his  proud  heart  pulseless,  his  spear- 
heads scattered,  his  tomahawk  rusting  near  his  nerveless 
arm  —  the  sage  chieftain,  —  his  council  fires  dead,  his 
heroic  deeds  unsung,  his  memory  forgotton  —  the  medi- 


22  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

cine  man,  —  his  healing  arts  entombed,  his  charms 
turned  to  dust,  his  potent  herbs  ungathered  in  the  tan- 
gled brake  —  the  soft-eyed  maiden,  upon  whose  broken 
vows  the  evening  star  never  sh.<miA*—  the  sober  matron, 
—  her  labors  done  —  the  tender  infant,  —  here  they  all 
rest  in  one  common  grave,  and  here  they  will  remain, 
until  the  last  trump  shall  summon  both  conqueror  and 
conquered,  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Him  who  is 
mightier  than  them  all. 

In  strains  of  touching  pathos,  has  an  American  poet 
portrayed  the  feelings  of  the  returning  Indian  at  the 
burial  place  of  his  fathers: 

'•  It  La  the  spot  I  came  to  seek  — 
My  father's  ancient  burial  place  ; 
Ere  from  these  vales,  ashamed  and  weak, 
Withdrew  our  wasted  race. 

It  is  the  spot  —  I  know  it  well  — 
Of  which  our  old  traditions  tell. 

"  For  here,  the  upland  bank  sends  out 
A  ridge  toward  the  river  side ; 
I  know  the  shaggy  hills  about, 
The  meadows  smooth  and  wide, 

The  plains,  that  toward  the  southern  sky, 
Fenced  east  and  west  by  mountains,  lie. 

"  A  white  man  gazing  on  the  scene, 
Would  say  a  lovely  spot  was  here, 
And  praise  the  lawns,  so  fresh  and  green, 
Between  the  hills  so  sheer. 

I  like  it  not  —  I  would  the  plain 
Lay  in  its  tall  old  groves  again. 

"  The  sheep  are  on  the  slopes  around, 
The  cattle  in  the  meadows  feed, 


MONUMENTAL  REMAIN'S  OF   GEORGIA.  23 

And  laborers  turn  the  crumbling  ground, 
Or  drop  the  yellow  seed  ; 

And  prancing  steeds,  in  trappings  gay, 
Whirl  the  bright  chariot  o'er  the  way. 

"  Methinks  it  were  a  nobler  sight 

To  see  these  vales  in  woods  arrayed, 
Their  summits  in  the  golden  light, 
Their  trunks  in  grateful  shade  — 

And  herds  of  deer,  that  bounding  go 
O'er  hills  and  prostrate  trees  below. 

11  And  then  to  mark  the  lord  of  all, 
The  forest  hero,  trained  to  wars, 
Quivered  and  plumed,  and  lithe  and  tall, 
And  seamed  with  glorious  scars, 

Walk  forth,  amid  his  reign  to  dare 
The  wolf,  and  grapple  with  the  bear. 

44  This  bank  in  which  the  dead  were  laid, 
Was  sacred,  when  the  soil  was  ours ; 
Hither  the  silent  Indian  maid 

Brought  wreaths  of  beads  and  flowers ; 
And  the  gay  chief,  and  gifted  seer, 
Worshipped  the  God  of  thunders  here. 

44  But  now  the  wheat  is  green  and  high, 
On  clods  that  hid  the  warrior's  breast, 
And  scattered  in  the  furrows  lie, 
The  weapons  of  his  rest. 

And  there,  in  the  loose  sand,  is  thrown 
Of  his  large  arm,  the  mouldering  bone. 

44  Ah  I  little  thought  the  strong  and  brave 
Who  bore  their  lifeless  chieftain  forth  — 
Or  the  young  wife,  that  weeping  gave 
Her  first-born  to  the  earth, 

That  the  pale  race,  who  waste  us  now, 
Among  their  bones  should  guide  the  plough. 

"  They  waste  us  —  ay,  like  April  snow 
In  the  warm  noon,  we  shrink  away ; 


24  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA. 

And  fast  they  follow,  as  we  go 
Towards  the  setting  da}-, — 

Till  they  shall  fill  the  land  — and  we 
Are  driven  into  the  western  sea. 

"  But  I  behold  a  fearful  sign, 

To  which  the  white  man's  eyes  are  blind ; 
Their  race  may  vanish  hence,  like  mine, 
And  leave  no  trace  behind, 

Save  ruins  o'er  the  region  spread, 
And  the  white  stones  above  the  dead. 

"  Before  these  fields  were  shorn  and  tilled, 
Full  to  the  brim  our  rivers  flowed ; 
The  melody  of  waters  filled 
The  fresh  and  boundless  wood ; 

And  torrents  dashed  and  rivulets  played, 
And  fountains  spouted  in  the  shade. 

"  Those  grateful  sounds  are  heard  no  more, 
The  springs  are  silent  in  the  sun  ; 
The  rivers,  by  the  blackened  shore, 
"With  lessening  current  run  ; 

The  realm  our  tribes  are  crushed  to  get, 
May  be  a  barren  desert  yet.  " 


H.  Etowah   River. 

GG.G.  Moat  or  Ditch. 

A.  Larjre  Central  Mound. 

B.  Circular  Mound. 

C.  Penlao/onal  do. 

F.F.FF.  Mounds  within  the  enclosure. 

R.  Mound  outside  do.       do. 

P.P.  Mounds     do.       do.        do. 

E.  do       enclosed  by  The  Moat  or  Ditch. 

I.  Terraces. 

DUD.  Excavations. 

T.T.  Crossings. 

K.  Area  enclosed- some  50  Acres.       >,,.n 


BY  R.H.HOWEI 


& 


OF  THE 


tttwt  Ml  QMimml*  WaHtnt,  tit 


f     w»w« 


The  most  remarkable  of  the  Monumental  Eemains  of 
the  Etowah  and  Oostanaula  Valleys,  are  located  upon 
the  plantation  of  Colonel  Lewis  Tumlin,  some  two 
miles  distant  from  the  town  of  Cartersville,  in  the 
county  of  Cass.  There  are  few  monuments,  amid  the 
vast  numbers  which  have  been  observed  and  described 
in  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio,  the  Scioto,  the  Mississippi, 
and  elsewhere  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States, 
which  can  compare  with  the  present,  in  extent  and  in- 
terest. Situated  upon  the  right  bank  of  the  Etowah 
River,  in  the  midst  of  a  perfectly  level  alluvial  bottom, 
they  tower  above  all  surrounding  objects,  changeless 
amid  the  revolutions  of  centuries. 

They  consist  of  a  series  of  mounds  (the  character  and 
position  of  which  will  be  hereafter  more  particularly 
considered,)  surrounded  by  a  large  and  deep  moat  — 
the  traces  of  which  are  not  only  now  perceptible,  but 
quite  distinct,  — which,  when  filled  with  tide  of  the 
river,  would  have  effectually  isolated  all  the  space  in- 
cluded within  its  enclosure.  The  Etowah  River  here 
turns  toward  the  south ;  after  a  gentle  sweep,  again  re- 
covering its  wonted  course,  thus  forming  a  graceful 
bend. 


28  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

This  moat  originally  communicated  at  cither  end  with 
the  river.  This  fact  is  still  apparent,  although  the  cur- 
rent of  the  stream,  in  its  flow  of  years,  has  filled  to  a 
very  great  extent  the  mouths  of  the  ditch,  thus  prevent- 
ing the  influx  and  reflux  of  the  tide.  Formerly  the 
water  must  have  coursed  freely  through  it,  thus  isola- 
ting the  enclosed  space,  and  constituting  quite  a  formi- 
dable obstacle  in  the  path  of  an  attacking  foe.  This 
ditch  varies  in  depth  and  width ;  in  some  places  posses- 
sing still  a  depth  of  twenty  feet  —  in  others,  of  not 
more  than  eight  or  ten;  and  differing  in  width  from 
fifteen  to  forty  feet. 

North  and  west  of  the  mounds  situated  within  this 
enclosure,  and  along  the  line  of  the  moat,  are  two  exca- 
vations, designated  in  the  accompanying  diagram,  hy 
the  letters  D  D,  of  nearly  equal  extent  —  each  having 
at  present  a  conjectured  area  of  about  an  acre,  and  a 
depth  of  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet.  With  these 
excavations,  the  moat  communicates  directly,  so  that 
the  same  rising  tide  in  the  river,  which  flowed  into  the 
ditch,  would  also  convert  them  into  deep  ponds,  or  huge 
reservoi  re. 

The  reason  why  these  excavations  were  made  is  evi- 
dent. The  earth  removed  in  constructing  the  moat,  did 
not  suffice  to  build  %ven  a  moiety  of  the  immense 
tumuli  within  the  enclosure.  Hence,  in  order  to  swell 
them  into  their  present  stupendous  proportions,  the 
mound  builders  were  compelled  to  resort  to  these  enor- 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA.  29 

mous  excavations,  which  still  exist,  and  will  remain  for 
ages  yet  to  come,  wonderful  proofs  of  their  labor  and 
protracted  industry.  The  space  included  within  the 
limits  of  the  moat  —  the  river  forming  the  boundary  to 
the  south  and  south-east,  —  is  between  forty  and  fifty 
acres.  This  moat  is  distinguished  on  the  accompanying- 
plan  by  the  letters  GGG;  at  the  points  T  T,  commu- 
nication can  be  hod  from  the  enclosed  area  to.  the  sur- 
rounding valley.  Whether  these  embankments  are  por- 
tions of  the  original  work,  thereby  at  ordinary  times 
affording  the  means  of  ready  ingress  and  egress ;  or 
whether  they  have  subsequently  been  there  placed  for 
the  purposes  of  convenience,  cannot  now  be  positively 
ascertained.  The  first  hypothesis  however,  under  the 
circumstances,  commends  itself  to  our  approval ;  in  as 
much  as  there  are  no  appearances  of  any  recent  removal 
of  earth,  with  which  these  crossings  could  have  been 
made ;  and  it  would  have  been  a  very  easy  matter,  in  a 
short  time  to  have  removed  them,  in  case  it  were  deemed 
necessary  to  fill  the  entire  moat. 

From  the  general  appearance  and  nature  of  the  works, 
we  are  induced  to  believe,  that  these  excavations  were 
designed  to  answer  another  purpose.  They  might  have 
been,  and  probably  were  intended  as  huge  reservoirs, 
wherein  a  supply  of  water,  sufficient  to  flow  the  entire 
moat,  might  have  been  detained,  and  preserved  ready 
for  an  emergency.  The  streams  of  this  region,  spring- 
ing as  they  do  from  hilly  sources,  and  passing  through 


30  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

valleys,  are  rapid  in  their  currents,  and  subject  to  great 
increase  and  diminution  in  volume.  In  the  Spring  of 
the  year,  full  to  the  brim,  and  not  unfrequently  over- 
flowing their  banks;  the  summer  sun  finds  them  with 
lessened  current.  When  therefore,  the  water  was  low 
in  the  Etowah,  it  might  have  been  a  difficult,  if  not  an 
impossible  matter,  to  have  filled  the  moat.  By  permit- 
ting these  reservoirs,  however,  to  be  completely  filled 
by  the  freshet  tides  of  the  Spring,  an  amount  of  water, 
sufficient  at  any  time  to  flow  the  moat,  could,  with  but 
little  trouble,  have  been  readily  obtained  and  preserved. 
The  compact  earth,  at  the  depth  of  twenty-five  or  thirty 
feet,  would  suffer  but  little  percolation ;  while  with  the 
ever  changing  current  of  the  river,  opportunities  would 
be  constantly  presented,  for  supplying  any  deficiency 
that  might  have  been  caused  by  evaporation. 

Within  the  enclosure,  formed  by  the  moat  and  the 
river,  there  are  seven  mounds.  Three  of  them  are  how- 
ever, preeminent  in  size ;  one  in  particular  —  designated 
in  the  accompanying  diagram  by  the  letter  A,  —  far  sur- 
passing all  the  others  in  its  stupendous  proportions,  and 
in  the  degree  of  interest  which  attaches  to  it. 

This  large  central  mound  A,  stands  almost  midway 
between  the  moat  and  the  river  —  a  little  nearer  the  lat- 
ter. Its  position  is  commanding,  and  to  the  eye  of  the 
observer,  as  it  rests  upon  its  august  proportions  for  the 
first  time,  it  seems  a  monument  of  the  past  ages,  —  ven- 
erable in  its  antiquity  —  solemn  in  its  silent,  and  yet 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA.  31 

not  voiceless  memories,  — a  remarkable  monument  of 
the  power  and  industry  of  some  unknown  race.  It 
belongs  not  to  this  generation.  The  hunter-tribes  had 
naught  to  do  with  its  erection.  The  offspring  of  an 
ancient  people,  who  have  passed  forever  beyond  the 
confines  of  this  beautiful  valley,  it  stands  a  solemn  mon- 
ument,  ever  repeating  the  story  of  their  greatness,  while 
all  else  connected  with  them,  and  they  themselves,  are 
sleeping  beneath  the  shadows  of  a  forgotten  past. 

Composed  of  native  earth,  simple  yet  impressive  in 
form,  it  seems  calculated  for  an  almost  endless  duration. 
Although  no  historian  has  chronicled  the  names  and 
deeds  of  those,  who  aided  in  its  construction  —  although 
no  poet's  song  commemorates  the  virtues,  the  manners, 
the  loves,  the  wars,  the  brave  deeds  of  those,  who  here 
inhabited  —  still,  this  monument  exists,  speaking  a  lan- 
guage, perchance  more  impressive,  than  the  most 
studied  epitaph  upon  Parian  marble. 

In  building  this  mound,  the  fact,  —  as  disclosed  upon 
an  examination  of  its  constitution,  as  it  has  been  parti- 
ally made  manifest  by  the  action  of  countless  showers 
upon  its  slopes,  —  seems  evident,  that  the  earth  removed 
from  the  moat,  and  the  excavations  D  D,  was  first  used. 
The  surface  of  the  ground  for  a  considerable  distance 
around  the  mound,  was  then  evenly  removed,  and  this 
rich  loam  placed  upon  the  summit  of  the  tumulus.  Lo- 
cated in  the  midst  of  an  alluvial  bottom,  as  level  as  a 
table  —  this  circumstance  is  easilv  ascertained  at  a  mo- 


32  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

merit's  view,  for  the  surface  of  the  ground  dips  on  all 
sides  towards  the  mound  to  such  an  extent,  that  it  ap- 
pears to  rise  out  of  a  natural  basin. 

This  central  tumulus  is  some  eighty  feet,  or  more, 
above  the  level  of  the  valley.  There  is  no  geological 
formation  entering  in  the  smallest  degree  into  its  compo- 
sition. To  all  appearances,  it  consists  entirely  of  the 
earth  taken  from  the  moat  and  the  excavations,  in  con- 
nection with  the  soil  removed  from  around  its  bose ; 
having  received  no  assistance  whatever  from  any  natu- 
ral hill  or  elevation.  In  fact,  its  location  —  situated  as 
it  is  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  alluvial  bottom,  at  a  remove 
from  rocks,  hills  or  elevations  of  any  character  —  pre- 
cludes the  idea  of  its  having  received  any  additions 
from  such  sources.  In  view  of  this  circumstance,  its 
stupendous  proportions  become  the  more  surprising. 

In  form,  it  may  be  regarded  as  quadrangular,  if  we 
disregard  a  small  angle  to  the  south.  That  taken  into 
account,  gives  us  a  pentagonal  form,  as  follows :  length 
of  northern  side,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  —  length  of 
eastern  side,  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  —  length  of 
south-eastern  side,  one  hundred  feet  —  length  of  south- 
ern side,  ninety  feet,  and  length  of  western  side,  one 
hundred  feet. 

Measured  in  the  direction  of  east  and  west,  its  apex 
diameter  is  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  —  while 
the  diameter,  as  measured  north  and  south,  falls  a  little 
short,  being  about  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  feet. 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA.  33 

The  apex  surface  of  this  tumulus  is  nearly  level.  Orig- 
inally it  was  crowned  with  the  most  luxuriant  vegeta- 
tion, but  the  utilitarian  arm  of  the  husbandman,  has 
shorn  it  of  this  attraction.  A  solitary  tree  stands  near 
the  northern  extremity.  The  native  weeds,  and  annual 
grasses  flourish  however,  in  such  rich  profusion,  that 
the  steps  of  the  observer  are  seriously  impeded.  The 
view  of  the  surrounding  country  from  the  summit  of 
this  tumulus,  is  highly  attractive.  Almost  at  its  base, 
flows  the  ever-changing  tide  of  the  Etowah  Eiver,  seen 
through  the  dark  green  foliage  adorning  its  banks  — 
coursing  onward  and  onward  through  the  fertile  valley 
—  the  hill-sides  on  every  hand  bending  to  catch  its  re- 
freshing influences.  Alternate  fields  and  forests  charm 
the  eye.  The  rich  alluvial  bottoms,  teeming  with  the 
products  of  intelligent  industry  —  the  crests  of  the 
neighboring  hills,  adorned  with  pleasant  cottages,  their 
sides  covered  with  well  cultivated  orchards  —  the  conse- 
crated spire,  rising  from  the  oak-grove  which  marks  the 
suburbs  of  a  neighboring  village  —  all  proclaim  in  glad 
accord,  the  happy  reign  of  peace  and  plenty.  Ten- 
der must  have  been  the  attachment,  with  which  the 
Mound-Builders  regarded  this  beautiful  valley. 

The  approach  to  this  mound,  is  from  the  east  by 
south.  The  other  sides  are  too  precipitous  to  permit 
any  other,  than  perhaps  an  Alpine  guide,  to  accomplish 
the  ascent.  The  angles  of  the  mound,  are  still  sharply 
defined.     That  approach  was  effected  by  the  aid  of  ter- 


84  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

races,  —  rising  one  above  the  other,  —  inclined  planes 
leading  from  the  one  to  the  other.  These  terraces  are 
sixty-live  feet  in  width  —  extending  from  the  mound, 
toward  the  south-cast. 

At  the  eastern  angle  of  this  tumulus,  there  is  a  path- 
way, which  leads  to  the  summit  —  affording  a  tedious 
ascent  to  the  observer  on  foot.  This  pathway  follows 
the  eastern  angle  of  the  mound,  and  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  intended  for  general  use.  May  it  not  have 
been  the  fact,  that  this  approach  was  designed  for  the 
priesthood  alone,  while  upon  the  broad  terraces,  the  as- 
sembled worshippers  gave  solemn  heed  to  the  religious 
ceremonies,  performed  upon  the  eastern  summit  of  the 
tumulus  ? 

To  the  east  of  this  large  central  mound,  and  so  near, 
that  the  flanks  of  both  meet  and  mingle,  stands  a 
smaller  mound,  about  forty  feet  high,  circular  in  form, 
with  an  apex  diameter  of  one  hundred  feet.  The  sym- 
metrical construction  of  this  tumulus  is  remarkable. 
From  its  western  slope,  there  is  an  easy,  and  immediate 
communication  with  the  terraces  of  the  central  mound. 
This  mound  is  designated  in  the  accompanying  plan,  by 
the  letter  B. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  in  a  westerly  direction 
from  this  mound,  and  distant  in  a  southerly  direction 
from  the  central  mound,  some  sixty  feet,  is  the  third  and 
last  of  this  immediate  group. 

Like  both  the  others,  it  has  been  made  of  the  soil  of 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA.  35 

the  valley,  without  any  assistance  from  natural  eleva- 
tions. It  possesses  an  altitude  of  thirty  feet  or  more, 
and  is  pentagonal  in  form.  The  two  diameters,  mea- 
sured across  its  apex  surface,  were  respectively  ninety- 
two,  and  sixty-eight  feet.  It  is  uniformly  level  at  the 
top.  No  definite  traces  could  be  perceived  of  an  estab- 
lished approach  to  the  summit.  An  ascent  can  readily 
be  effected  from  any  side.  This  tumulus  we  have  des- 
ignated by  the  letter  C.  These  last  two  mounds,  are 
located  between  the  central  mound  and  the  Etowah 
Eiver  —  the  former  (B),  lying  to  the  east,  the  latter  (C), 
to  the  south. 

To  the  east  and  north-east  of  this  group,  is  a  chain  of 
four  smaller  mounds,  F  F  F  F,  running  almost  north  and 
south.  There  is  but  little  interest  attaching  to  them, 
and  nothing,  other  than  their  location  in  the  vicinity  of 
these  larger  tumuli,  and  their  situation  within  the  enclo- 
sure formed  by  the  moat  and  the  river,  to  distinguish 
them  from  numerous  other  earth-mounds,  scattered  here 
and  there  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
Etowah  and  Oostanaula  valleys.  The  mound  E,  lying 
to  the  north-west  of  the  central  group,  although  posses- 
sing a  trifling  elevation,  is  somewhat  remarkable  for  its 
extent;  and  is  completely  surrounded  by  the  moat, 
which  at  that  point  divides,  with  a  view  to  its  enclo- 
sure. When  the  ditch  was  filled  with  water,  this  eleva- 
tion, completely  isolated  by  the  tide,  must  have  seemed 
an   island.     Outside  of  the  enclosure,   and  within    the 


36  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

confines  of  the  valley  to  the  north-east,  appears  a 
sharply  defined  mound  R.  Lower  down  the  valley, 
and  near  the  river  hank,  are  seen  two  other  elevations 
PP. 

The  inquirer,  upon  the  most  casual,  as  well  as  after 
the  most  careful  examination,  rests  fully  satisfied  in  the 
belief,  that  all  of  these  works  are  of  artificial  construc- 
tion. There  arc  no  evidences  whatever  of  geological 
action.  The  tumuli  within  the  enclosure,  are  all  com- 
posed of  the  materials  removed  from  the  moat  and  ex- 
cavations, and  of  sand,  loam,  and  vegetable  mould,  sim- 
ilar in  all  respects  to  the  superior  surface  of  the  valley, 
upon  which  the  mounds  are  seated.  The  method 
adopted  in  the  erection  of  them,  appears  to  have  been, 
by  carrying  the  earth  (how  we  can  only  conjecture, 
possibly  in  bags,  skins,  baskets,  or  vessels)  and  empty- 
ing it  upon  the  spot  selected  as  the  location  for  the 
mound.  The  slope  of  the  sides  of  these  tumuli,  is  just 
that,  which  would  be  made  by  general  and  gradual 
accretions  of  earth,  successively  deposited  in  small  quan- 
tities from  above. 

The  summits  of  these  mounds,  as  well  as  the  circum- 
jacent valley  for  miles,  have  been  completely  denuded 
of  the  original  growth,  which  overspread  them  in  rich 
profusion.  The  attractive  soil,  with  its  annual  generous 
harvests,  is  too  highly  prized  by  the  husbandman,  to  be 
allowed  to  contribute  only  to  the  life  and  beauty  of  the 
forest  trees.     The  consequence  is,  that  every  outline  of 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  37 

these  remarkable  remains  can  be  readily  and  carefully 
noted.  Upon  the  summit  of  the  large  central  mound, 
still  stands  the  stump  of  a  walnut  tree,  not  less  than 
three  feet  in  diameter. 

The  first  and  most  natural  emotion,  suggested  upon 
an  examination  of  these  monuments,  is  one  of  absolute 
wonder  and  astonishment,  at  the  immense  amount  of 
industry  and  labor  expended  in  their  construction. 
Another  idea  presented,  is,  that  they  must  have  been 
the  result  of  the  combined  efforts  of  many  generations  ; 
or  else,  that  the  population,  by  whom  they  were  built, 
must  have  been  very  numerous.  The  veil  of  an  un- 
known and  forgotten  past  is  upon  them.  No  historical 
records  have  been  left  behind ;  and  we  are  compelled  to 
resort  to  the  internal  evidence  of  these  tumuli,  to  the 
scattered  fragments  which  are  revealed  by  the  spade  and 
plough-share,  to  form  even  plausible  conjectures,  as  to 
the  character  of  the  race  by  whom  they  were  con- 
structed. Unfortunately  for  the  enquirer,  the  herculean 
task  of  opening  these  mounds  has  never  been  attempted. 
Their  contents  are  secrets  still ;  and  we  are  only  in  pc  > 
session  of  those  facts  relating  to  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  their  authors,  which  may  be  gathered  from  an- 
alogy, and  from  the  utensils,  idols,  and  weapons,  which 
have  been  picked  up  at  their  base. 

It  will  be  at  once  remarked  by  those,  who  have  even 
to  a  limited  degree  bestowed  any  attention  upon  the  an- 
tiquities of  our  State  and  Country,  that  these  remains 


38  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

are  not  at  all  Indian  in  their  origin.  They  have  noth- 
ing in  common  with  those,  ascertained  to  have  been  con- 
structed by  the  Indians  who  here  inhabited,  when  this 
region  was  first  peopled  by  the  whites. 

We  have  also  the  positive  testimony  of  the  Cherokee 
Indians  to  the  effect,  that  they  had  not  even  a  tradition 
of  the  race  by  whom  these  works  were  made.* 

The  authors  of  those  tumuli,  were  probably  idol  wor- 
shippers. Idols  have  been  found  at  their  base,  indica- 
ting in  their  formation,  a  degree  of  skill  superior  to 
that  possessed  by  the  Cherokees.  It  is  a  well  ascer- 
tained fact,  that  the  Indians  of  this  region  never,  either 
made  or  worshipped  idols,  f 

Among  the  Cherokees,  neither  idols  nor  idol  worship 
were  ever  ascertained  to  exist.  Their  religious  belief, 
the  theory  of  a  future  state,  as  cherished  by  them,  all 
forbid  the  supposition  that  these  idols  were  ever  fash- 
ioned by  the  Cherokees.  Again — no  people,  who  had 
not  advanced  in  civilization  beyond  the  nomadic  state 
—  changing  their  seats  as  often  as  fancy  or  a  scarcit}^  of 
game  might  suggest — would  have  undertaken  the  erec- 
tion of  such  vast  earth  works,  involving  immense  labor, 
and  designed  for  almost  endless  duration.  Men  must 
have  emerged  from  the  hunter  state ;  they  must  have 
become  more  advanced  in  civilization  ;  population  must 

*  See  Travels  of  "Wra.  Bartram,  pp.  2G5,  2GG.  See  also,  Harris'  Jour- 
nal, &c  pp.  147,  148.     Also,  History  of  Wisconsin,  p.  245. 

f  See  Bartram's  Travels,  pp.  495,  490.  Adair's  History  American 
Indians,  pp.  19.  22. 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  39 

have  become  dense,  before  the  erection  of  such  temples 
—  such  fortifications  could  be  undertaken. 

There  was  not  in  the  sixteenth  century,  a  single  tribe 
of  Indians,  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  which  had 
means  of  subsistance,  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  apply 
for  such  purposes,  the  unproductive  labor  necessary  for 
the  erection  of  such  a  work.  Nor  was  there  any,  in 
such  a  social  state,  as  would  enable  a  chief  to  compel 
the  labor  of  the  nation  to  be  thus  applied.  It  is  only 
under  despotic  forms  of  government,  that  pyramids  will 
be  erected  in  honor  of  a  prince  —  or  such  huge  earth 
works  for  religious  purposes.* 

It  is  evident  then,  that  these  monuments  never  were 
constructed  by  the  Indians,  who  possessed  this  region 
when  Georgia  was  first  peopled  by  the  whites.  Like 
that  system  of  ancient  mounds  and  fortifications,  scat- 
tered over  that  well  defined  area,  comprising  the  hydro- 
graphical  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  over  which  the  forest 
had  resumed  its  sway,  the  present  monuments,  can 
afford  us  no  positive  history,  either  of  the  period  when, 
or  of  the  people  by  whom  they  were  built. 

Nothing  has  been  more  frequent  than  the  effort,  by 
men  in  all  ages,  to  distinguish  themselves  and  their  race, 
by  the  erection  of  monuments,  temples,  and  high -places; 
thereby  attempting  to  impart  permanency  to  the  mem- 
ory of  the  departed  —  solemnity  to  their  religious  cere- 
monies —  and  dignity  to  their  age. 

*  See  Trans.  Amer.  Etli.  Soc,  Vol.  L,  p.  208. 


'■40  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

The  retreating  waters  of  the  deluge,  had  scarce  dis- 
appeared from  the  surface  of  the  earth,  when  mankind 
undertook  the  erection  of  a  tower  —  its  summit  reach- 
ing to  Ilcaven, — that  might  serve  as  a  great  national 
temple  —  a  proud  monumenl  of  the  power  and  industry 
of  those  by  whom  it  was  raised  —  a  grand  bond  of  per- 
petual union,  and  a  pledge,  that  amid  the  changes  of 
coming  centuries,  the  memory  of  their  race  should  be 
effectually  cherished. 

The  practice  of  mound-building,  seems  in  times  past 
to  have  existed  in  almost  every  region  of  the  world 
The  mound  of  earth,  in  a  period  of  semi-civilization 
appears  to  have  suggested  itself  as  the  most  natural 
convenient,  arid  enduring  form  of  perpetuating  the 
memory  of  the  dead,  and  of  constructing  lasting  tem 
pies,  for  the  solemnization  of  religious  rites  and  cere 
monies. 

By  a  comparison  of  the  descriptions  of  those  ancient 
works  in  Europe  and  Asia,  with  those  now  in  existence 
in  many  parts  of  our  country,  we  find  then!  both  re- 
markably similar  in  the  method  of  their  construction, 
in  the  materials  employed,  and  the  articles  found  within 
them.  This  group  of  mounds,  closely  resembles  many 
that  have  been  examined  in  the  valleys  of  the  Scioto, 
the  Ohio,  and  the  Mississippi.     They  are  the  fruits  of 

the  industry  and  labor  of  the  same  race. 
■/ 

The  researches  of  Dr.  Atwater,  as  presented  in  his 

article  prepared  for  the  American  Antiquarian  Society, 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  41 

have  led  him  to  believe,  that  these  people  derived  their 
origin  primarily  from  Hindostan. 

Without  pausing  to  enumerate  the  proofs,  varied,  and 
perhaps  substantial,  upon  which  the  supposition  rests,  we 
may  here  state  in  general  terms,  that  all  the  probabili- 
ties point  to  Asia,  as  the  country,  whence  came  the  ear- 
liest inhabitants  of  America.  When,  and  at  what  place 
they  first  located,  cannot  at  this  remove  be  definitely  as- 
certained. While  there  are,  here  and  there,  indications 
of  what  may  be  termed  an  intrusive  type  of  civilization, 
referred  by  some,  to  occasional  adventures  and  migra- 
tions, having  their  impulse  from  the  east,  towards  the 
Atlantic  coast ;  we  incline  to  that  opinion,  which  looks 
to  Mexico,  as  the  parent  of  that  immediate  civilization 
which  originated  in  this  valley,  as  well  as  in  the  valle}~s 
of  the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio,  the  Scioto,  and  elsewhere, 
these  remarkable  monuments  of  the  industry,  religious 
zeal,  and  military  skill  of  that  people,  who  are,  in 
the  absence  of  their  ascertained  name,  denominated 
Mound-Builders.  The  remains  which  they  have  left 
behind  them,  are  many  of  them  precisely  similar  to 
those,  which  have  been  exhumed  in  the  valleys,  and  at 
the  base  of  those  ancient  temples,  seated  upon  the  plains 
of  Mexico. 

Another   fact,  worthy  of  notice,    is   this:    these  re- 
mains are  generally  located  upon,  or  near  streams,  hav- 
ing communication  directly  or  indirectly  with  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 
G 


42  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

Such  is  the  case,  with  respect  to  the  tumuli  now  un- 
der consideration. 

Idol  worship,  is  another  proof  in  support  of  this 
hypothesis. 

These  Mound-Builders  seem  to  have  been  an  agricul- 
tural people.  This  is  a  reasonable  deduction  from  the 
fact,  that  their  tumuli,  temples,  and  fortifications,  gene- 
rally appear  upon  fertile  ground  only  —  almost  always 
upon  the  rich  alluvial  bottoms  of  the  rivers,  —  lands 
which  might  be  cultivated  for  years,  without  the  neces- 
sity of  the  application  of  fertilizers. 

Another  inference  suggested  by  the  location  of  all 
their  works,  which  appear  to  have  been  devoted  to 
sacred  uses,  is,  that  ablution  was  a  recognized  religious 
rite. 

Again  —  the  Mound-Builders  evidently  were  sur- 
rounded by  enemies,  against  whom  they  were  forced  to 
protect  themselves.  Else,  wiry  these  fortifications  —  la- 
borious in  their  construction,  —  attendant  upon  so  many 
settlements  formed  by  these  people? 

It  will  be  observed,  that  their  locations  are  definite, 
indicating  either  a  direct  line  of  immigration  pursued 
by  them ;  or  if  there  be  no  permanent  intermediate  so- 
journ, then  only  here  and  there  a  fort  hastily  and  tem- 
porarily constructed,  until  some  suitable  location  is 
selected,  where  they  congregate,  erecting  their  temples, 
building  their  fortifications,  and  cultivating  their  fruitful 
valleys. 


MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  43 

We  may  well  conceive,  how  a  common  danger,  and  a 
sense  of  impending  destruction,  might  concentrate  the 
energies  of  a  tribe  in  the  hunter  state,  and  accomplish 
the  occasional  erection  of  fortifications,  which  even  at 
this  day,  would  excite  surprise,  and  attract  the  attention 
of  the  antiquary.  Bat  in  the  case  of  the  Mound-Build- 
ers, we  are  led  to  the  conclusion,  that  they  were  under 
a  government,  widely  differing  from  that  which  obtained 
among  the  Indians  —  a  government,  in  which  the  will 
of  the  ruler  was  the  undisputed  will  of  the  people  — 
where  the  energies  of  the  entire  community  were  di- 
rected, and  expended  in  conformity  with  the  order  and 
edicts  of  the  chief  in  command.  Upon  no  other  theory, 
can  we  account  for  these  uniform  and  enormous  exhi- 
bitions of  combined  labor  and  industry.  We  infer  far- 
ther from  the  location  of  these  monuments,  that  the 
Mound-Builders  occupied  permanent  seats,  which  they 
probably  changed  not,  until  forced  by  the  conquering 
arm  of  the  surrounding  foe,  to  abandon  the  beautiful 
locations  where  they  had  fixed  their  homes.  Their  set- 
tlements, as  has  already  been  intimated,  were  almost 
always  chosen,  where  the  attractions  of  the  soil  prom- 
ised a  ready  and  bountiful  reward  to  agricultural  indus- 
try.  Radiating  in  communities,  from  the  perchance 
over-crowded  seats  of  Mexican  civilization,  they  as- 
cended the  principal  streams,  and  their  branches,  having 
communication  either  directly  or  indirectly  with  the 
Mexican  Gulf,  or  with   the  ocean ;    locating  here  and 


44  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

there  along  their  banks,  in  the  richest  alluvial  bottoms 
—  or  in  the  valleys  of  some  sister  stream,  where  they 
could  with  success  pursue  their  agricultural  arts,  build 
their  temples,  and  worship  their  gods.  That  some  of 
valleys  must  have  been  densely  populated,  and 
for  a  long  period  of  time,  is  clearly  proven,  both  by  the 
number  and  the  character  of  the  remains  still  in  exist- 
ence. That  the  valley  of  the  Etowah  must  have  been 
a  chosen  seat,  is  most  evident.  It  is  only  through  the 
exertions  of  a  dense  population,  that  such  monuments 
could  be  erected ;  only  amid  a  people,  who  looked  not 
to  a  precarious  subsistence,  to  be  gathered  from  the  wild 
animals  of  the  forest,  or  the  fish  of  the  stream,  but  who 
had  come  to  love  the  soil  upon  which  they  had  fixed 
their  homes,  who  had  learned  to  appreciate  the  value  of 
the  annual  harvest,  who  had  called  in  the  assistance  of 
the  domesticated  animal,  and  who  were  accustomed  to 
the  benefits  which  flow  from  an  organized  government, 
and  the  social  state. 

That  the  population  must  have  been  both  permanent 
and  numerous,  is  susceptible  of  easy  proof.  How  great 
that  population  was,  cannot  now  be  determined.  No 
historian  has  left  the  record  of  their  manners,  govern- 
ment, and  laws;  —  no  voice,  save  that  silent  speaking 
testimony  of  these  monuments,  proclaims  their  past 
greatness.  No  reply  is  heard  in  definite  response,  by 
him,  who  knocks  at  their  tombs. 

Mr.  Brackenridge  has  conjectured,   that  there  were 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OP   GEORGIA.  45 

once  five  thousand  villages  of  this  people,  in  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  —  and  it  is  the  belief  of  Dr.  Atwater, 
founded  upon  extensive  observation,  that  the  population 
which  once  possessed  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio,  must 
have  exceeded  seven  hundred  thousand.  Many  of  the 
mounds  there  examined,  contained  an  immense  number 
of  skeletons.  Those  of  Big  Grave  Creek,  are  believed 
to  be  completely  filled  with  human  bones.  Millions  of 
human  beings  have  been  interred  in  or  near  these  tu- 
muli. To  have  sustained  such  a  population,  extensive 
resort  must  have  been  had  to  agricultural  pursuits. 

A  small  excavation,  made  in  the  western  part  of  the 
mound  B,  began  to  reveal  human  bones.  The  examin- 
ation was  not  prosecuted  to  a  satisfactory  extent.  An 
ancient  tumulus  located  immediately  at  the  junction  of 
the  Etowah  and  Oostanaula  Valleys,  in  Floyd  County, 
was  a  few  years  since  almost  entirely  removed,  in  level- 
ing the  streets  of  the  village  of  Rome.  It  was  com- 
pletely filled  with  human  bones,  and  various  remains,  of 
which  we  shall  subsequently  furnish  an  extended  notice. 
Along  the  bank  of  the  river  just  here,  appeared  numer- 
ous skeletons  in  confusion,  lying  about  four  feet  below 
the  surface. 

The  indications  of  this  locality  would  seem  to  desig- 
nate it  as  a  general  necropolis.  The  remains  existing 
every  where  in  this  valley,  assure  us  of  the  fact,  that 
this  remarkable  people,  in  years  long  since  past,  must 
in  large  numbers,  have  fixed  here  their  favorite  and 
permanent  abodes. 


46  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA. 

The  antiquity  of  these  remains,  may  be  inferred  in 
general  terms,  from  the  following  considerations: 

First  —  Of  their  origin,  of  the  time  when  built,  and 
of  the  race  by  whom  they  were  constructed,  the  Chero- 
kees  had  no  knowledge,  traditional  or  otherwise.  The 
Cherokees  claim  for  themselves  a  residence  of  many 
generations  in  this  region.  They  declare  further,  that 
when  their  forefathers  first  possessed  themselves  of  this 
land,  they  expelled  from  its  beautiful  valleys  a  tribe  of 
Indians,  who,  like  themselves  —  although  for  a  long 
period  occupants  of  the  soil,  • — could  give  no  informa- 
tion respecting  the  origin  of  these  tumuli.  If  then  we 
may  believe  the  traditions  of  the  Cherokees,  the  age  of 
these  works,  may  be  estimated  by  centuries. 

Secondly  —  The  character  of  these  structures,  affords 
an  argument  for  their  antiquity.  They  arc  not  the 
hastily  thrown  up  entrenchments  of  migrating  bands; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  are  the  ruins  of  temples,  burial 
places,  fortifications  of  massive,  carefully  considered, 
durable  dimensions,  all  indicating  the  consecutive,  com- 
bined, extensive  labor  of  a  large  population,  perma- 
nently established. 

Herodotus  was  informed  by  the  priests  of  Memphis, 
that  one  hundred  thousand  workmen  were  employed  for 
the  period  of  twenty  years,  in  the  construction  of  the 
pyramid  of  Cheops.  We  may  well  imagine,  that  many 
years  were  consumed  in  the  erection  of  these  monu- 
ments. If  then,  to  the  time  requisite  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  surface  of  the  ground,  we  add  the  length  of 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  47 

time  consumed  in  the  actual  construction  of  these  works; 
—  add  to  this,  the  period  intervening  between  their  com- 
pletion and  their  abandonment  —  the  length  of  which, 
although  entirely  open  to  conjecture,  could  certainly 
have  been  by  no  means  inconsiderable;  —  and  then  con- 
sider the  fact,  that  the  Indians,  who  preceded  us  in  the 
occupancy  of  this  region,  could  give  no  imformation 
whatever  in  reference  to  them,  the  mind,  in  endeavoring 
to  locate  their  origin,  is  at  once  and  irresistibly  led  back 
to  a  remote  date. 

Thirdly  —  The  large  trees,  with  which  these  long  de- 
serted monuments  were  once  over-grown,  intimate  the 
length  of  years  that  they  have  remained  uncultivated — 
forgotten  wastes  —  and  add  testimony  of  remote  antiqu- 
ity. We  have  already  alluded  to  the  circumstance,  that 
the  summits  of  these  tumuli,  the  banks  of  the  moat, 
and  all  the  space  included  within  the  enclosure  formed 
by  the  moat  and  the  river,  were  once  covered  with  an 
immense  growth  of  forest  trees,  as  large,  and  luxuriant, 
and  to  all  appearances  quite  as  old  as  any  vegetation  of 
this  region. 

The  stump  of  a  walnut  tree  —  whose  diameter  cannot 
be  less  than  three  feet,  —  still  stands  upon  the  apex  of 
the  central  mound.  It  is  however,  in  such  a  decayed 
condition,  that  the  concentric  circles  could  not  be  defi- 
nitely ascertained.  To  appreciate  aright  the  force  of 
this  argument  for  the  antiquity  of  these  remains,  we 
must  remember,  that  the  process  by  which  nature  re- 


48  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

stores  the  forest  to  its  original  state,  after  it  has  been 
once  cleared,  is  extremely  slow. 

Says  a  prominent  writer:  In  our  rich  lands,  it  is  in- 
deed soon  covered  with  timber;  but  the  character  of  the 
growth  is  entirely  different,  and  continues  so,  through 
many  generations  of  men.  The  sites  of  the  ancient 
works  on  the  Ohio,  present  an  appearance  precisely  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  the  circumjacent  forest.  [Such  was  em- 
phatically the  case  with  regard  to  these  tumuli  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Etowah,  before  the  axe  of  the  white  man 
robbed  them,  and  the  adjacent  valley  for  miles,  of  the 
magnificent  growth  which  completely  over-shadowed 
them.]  You  find  on  them,  continues  the  writer,  all  that 
beautiful  variety  of  trees,  which  gives  such  unrivalled 
richness  to  our  forests. 

This  is  particularly  the  case  on  the  fifteen  acres  inclu- 
ded within  the  walls  of  the  work  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Great  Miami,  and  the  relative  proportions  of  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  timber,  are  the  same.  The  first  growth, 
on  the  same  kind  of  land  once  cleared,  and  then  aban- 
doned to  nature,  on  the  contrary,  is  more  homogene- 
ous, often  stinted  to  one  or  two,  ov  at  most  three 
kinds  of  timber.  If  the  ground  has  been  cultivated, 
yellow  locust  in  many  places  will  spring  up  as  thick  as 
garden  peas.  If  it  has  not  been  cultivated,  the  black 
and  white  walnut  will  be  the  prevailing  growth.  The 
rapidity  with  which  these  trees  grow  for  a  time,  smoth- 
ers the  attempt  of  other  kinds,  to  vegetate  and  grow  in 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  -±9 

their  shade.  The  more  thrifty  individuals  soon  over-top 
the  weaker  of  their  own  kind,  which  sicken  and  die. 
In  this  way,  there  are  only  as  many  left  as  the  earth 
will  support  to  maturity. 

This  state  of  things  will  not  however,  always  con- 
tinue. The  preference  of  the  soil  for  its  first  growth, 
ceases  with  its  maturity.  It  admits  of  no  succession 
upon  the  principles  of  legitimacy.  The  long  undis- 
puted masters  of  the  forest,  may  be  thinned  Vjy  the 
lightning,  the  tempests,  or  by  diseases  peculiar  to  them- 
selves; and  whenever  this  is  the  case,  one  of  the  oft-re- 
jected of  another  family,  will  find  between  its  decaying 
roots,  shelter  and  appropriate  food;  and  springing  into 
vigorous  growth,  will  soon  push  its  green  foliage  to  the 
skies,  through  the  decayed  and  withering  limbs  of  its 
blasted  and  dying  adversary ;  the  soil  itself  yielding  it 
a  more  liberal  support,  than  any  scion  from  the  former 
occupants.  It  will  easily  be  conceived,  what  a  length 
of  time  it  will  require,  for  a  denuded  tract  of  land,  by 
a  process  so  slow,  again  to  clothe  itself  with  the  amaz- 
ing variety  of  foliage,  which  is  the  characteristic  of  the 
forests  of  this  region. 

Of  what  an  immense  age  then,  must  be  these  works, 
covered  so  recently  with  the  second  growth,  after  the 
ancient  forest  state  had  been  regained. * 

*  Says  Caleb  Alwater,  in  speaking  of  the  antiquity  of  the  monuments 
of  the  Ohio  Valley:  "The  botany  of  the  country  has  been  consulted 
on  this  subject.  It  would  have  taken  some  time  for  the  seeds  of  plants 
and  trees,  to  have  been  completely  scattered  over  a  -whole  country,  ex- 


50  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

Thus  do  these  considerations  all  attest  the  great  an- 
tiquity of  these  remains. 

Fourthly  —  It  will  be  remembered  that  earthen  struc- 
tures, aa  a  general  rule,  are  not  greatly  impaired  by  the 
lapse  of  time.  If  favorably  located,  but  little  percepti- 
ble change  is  caused  by  the  action  of  the  natural  ele- 
ments. Most  certain  it  is,  that  monuments  of  a  similar 
character,  are  among  the  most  ancient  which  have  been 
preserved,  and  are  more  enduring  than  the  most  solid 
specimens  of  architecture.  That  mound  at  Aconithus, 
which  the  Persians  raised  over  Artachies,  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  canal  at  Athos,  still  exists,  in  its  general 
features  unchanged ;  while  the  most  elaborate  and  beau- 
tiful masterpieces  of  the  Grecian  artists,  scattered  and 
broken,  lie  mingled  with  the  common  dust. 

Six  hundred  years  before  Christ,  near  Sardis,  in  Asia 
Minor,  the  Lyclians  erected  a  great  mound-tomb  over 
Alyattes,  the  father  of  Croesus.  It  still  stands,  while 
the  architectural  monuments  of  the  intermediate  twenty- 
five  hundred  years,  have  many  of  them,  crumbled  into 
forgetfulness  and  nothingness;  and  it  may  be,  that  these 
very  monuments  may  out-live  many  of  the  most  strik- 
ing achievements  of  our  present  civilization. 


tensively  cultivated  by  a  considerable  population.  Now  the  only  differ- 
ence between  the  botany  of  the  country,  where  the  works  are  found,  and 
those  tracts,  where  there  are  none,  is,  that  the  trees  are  the  Largest  on 
and  about  the  works.  Trees  of  the  largest  size,  whoso  concentric  annu- 
lar rings  have  been  counted,  have  in  many  instances,  as  many  as  four 
hundred,  and  they  appear  to  be  at  least  the  third  growth,  since  the  works 
were  occupied."     See  Arch.  Amer.,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  219,  306. 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  51 

Fifthly  —  Another  argument  which  might  be  adduced 
in  support  of  the  antiquity  of  these  works  is,  that  they 
were  constructed  in  the  mound-building  age  —  a  period 
distinctly  marked  in  the  history  of  the  civilization  of 
the  world. 

Sixthly  —  Another  circumstance  worthy  of  note  is, 
that  the  people  who  built  these  works,  were  idol  wor- 
shippers. Subseqently,  will  be  presented  a  description 
of  an  idol,  found  at  the  very  base  of  the  large  central 
tumulus.  Sacred  and  profane  history  alike  teach  us, 
that  there  was  a  time  when  all  nations,  except  the  He- 
brew tribes,  and  those  brought  directly  in  contact  with 
them,  were  idolaters. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  and  one  which  seems  to  be 
well  ascertained  by  the  observations  of  the  intelligent, 
that  the  sun  was  worshipped  by  the  Mound-Builders."" 
These  tumuli  are  usually  so  situated,  as  to  afford  a  good 
and  early  view  of  the  rising  sun.  The  approaches  are 
from  the  east. 

If  we  examine  these  monuments  of  the  Etowah  Val- 
ley, with  reference  to  this  fact,  we  will  find  in  them  a 
confirmation  of  this  theory.  The  principal  angle  of  the 
large  central  mound  A,  looks  directly  towards  the  east. 


*  The  doctrine  of  the  worship  of  the  sun,  was  the  structure,  upon 
which  was  based  the  foundation  of  their  general  system.  We  have  no 
positive  evidence,  and  can  only  conjecture  by  the  apparent  astronomical 
positions,  and  the  enigmatical  forms  of  the  mounds  to  be  found  in  the 
west,  that  the  worship  of  the  sun,  at  the  time  of  the  discovery,  was  still 
maintained  at  Marietta,  Kaskaskia  Cahokia,  and  Grave  Creek,  where  the 
principal  mound-structures  and  ruins  now  exist.  See  Schoolcraft's  His- 
tory, &c.  p.  5-93. 


52  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA. 

The  approach,  by  means  of  the  terraces,  is  eastward. 
The  mounds  B  and  C,  look  directly  to  the  east  and 
west.  There  is  that  about  this  group,  which  suggests 
the  impression,  that  the  principal  interest  concentered 
about  the  eastern  portion  of  the  central  mound.  It 
was  there  that  they  probably  offered  their  sacrifices. 
Thither  the  eyes  of  the  assembled  worshippers  were 
turned  at  the  sacred  hour,  and  from  thence,  the  expect- 
ant eye  of  the  officiating  priest  caught  the  earliest  ray 
of  the  rising  sun,  as  lifting  his  gorgeous  face  from  out 
the  shadows  of  the  far  off  hills,  he  looked  and  smiled 
upon  this  beautiful  valley.  Where  are  now  those  tem- 
ples, Angel  of  Light,  which  once  flamed  at  thy  coming, 
over  all  this  region?  Where  the  consecrated  priest- 
hood, that  from  thy  rising  beams  kindled  anew  the  hal- 
lowed fires?  Where  the  assembled  worshippers,  who, 
with  reverential  gaze,  greeted  thy  dawning  glories? 
Still  thou  pursuest  thy  sublime  march, 

"first  of  all  the  starry  choir," 

but  these,  thy  votaries,  are  gone  —  their  shades  are 
mute,  and  thou  sheddest  thy  benign  influences  upon  an- 
other race,  rejoicing  in  the  light  and  love  of  a  new  civi- 
lization, a  holier  religion. 

This  idol  worship  —  this  reverence  paid  to  the  sun 
and  moon  —  the  location  of  their  temples  —  the  condi- 
tion of  the  arts  and  sciences,  as  they  are  ascertained  by 
the  remains  still  extant,  to  have  existed  among  them  — 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA.  53 

the  political  economy  of  this  people,  as  far  as  we  have 
been  able  to  arrive  at  it  by  analogy,  —  all  suggest  the 
idea,  that  the  civilization  of  the  Mound-Builders  should 
be  referred  secondarily  to  a  Mexican  origin.  We  are 
the  more  readily  inclined  to  this,  when  we  remark  the 
direct  similarity  which  exists  in  many  important  partic- 
ulars. In  the  history  of  the  Mound-Builders,  we  dis- 
cover only  such  modifications,  as  are  incident  to  that 
colonial  state,  which  is  not  in  the  possession  of  all  those 
appliances,  which  appertain  to  the  well  established 
homes  'of  the  parent  civilization.  We  are  well  aware 
that  it  is  the  conjecture  of  some,  whose  ethnological  re- 
searches entitle  their  opinions  to  no  little  weight  and 
consideration,  that  this  ancient  people  —  the  authors 
alike  of  the  monuments  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio, 
and  the  Etowah  valleys,  —  emigrating  from  Asia,  at 
some  remote  period,  made  their  first  settlements  around 
the  waters  of  the  northern  lakes,  following  in  their  pro- 
gress south-west,  the  streams  and  rivers  which  empty 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  leaving  in  every  place  of 
their  residence,  traces  of  the  degree  of  their  civilization 
and  improvement.* 

There  is  probably  no  doubt  of  the  fact,  that  we  must 
look  to  Asia  as  the  source  of  American  civilization ;  f 
but  why  locate  the  early  settlements  around  the  waters 


*  Arch.  Amer.,  Vol.  L,  p.  4. 

f  See  Cabell's  Unity  of  Mankind,  p.  178,  et  seq.  See  Pickering's 
Races  of  Men,  p.  294,  et  seq.  See  Schoolcraft's  History,  &c,  Part  1,  pp. 
22,  24. 


■A  MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA* 

of  the  northern  lakes,  in  preference  to  the  shores  and 
lakes  of  Mexico?  By  a  reference  to  the  earliest  annals, 
and  remote  histories  of  Mexican  civilization,  we  are 
informed,  that  the  Toltccs,  driven  from  their  native 
country,  after  a  long  navigation  along  the  coast  of  Cali- 
fornia, arrived  at  Iluehuetlapallan  (old  Tlapallan)  in  the 
year  387  after  Christ.  Thence,  sailing  along  Xalisco, 
and  traversing  several  provinces,  they  arrived  at  Toch- 
tepec  on  the  south  sea.  Subsequently  they  colonized 
Tollantzinco,  and  finally  founded  the  city  of  Tollan, 
where  they  elected  their  first  king,  Chalchiuhtlanetzin, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  510.  Then  follows  a  list  of 
nine  sovereigns,  under  whose  reign  the  Toltec  monarchy 
extended  its  dominion  over  one  thousand  leagues.  Dur- 
ing that  period,  a  number  of  large  cities  was  founded  — 
the  ruins  of  some  of  which  are  still  extant.  The  last 
king,  Topiltzin,  ascended  the  throne  A.  D.  8S2.  Under 
his  reign,  the  country  was  desolated  by  sterility,  plague 
and  famine.  Most  of  the  vassal  princes  rebelled,  a 
dreadful  civil  war  ensued,  equally  fatal  to  both  parties, 
which  terminated  in  the  overthrow  of  the  monarchy, 
and  the  almost  total  destruction  of  the  nation  itself. 
Fernando  D'  Alva,  in  one  of  his  relations  states,  that 
during  the  last  war,  which  continued  for  a  period  of  three 
years,  one  month  and  eighteen  days,  there  perished,  on 
both  sides  together,  five  millions  six  hundred  thousand 
souls.  Some  of  the  Toltecs  fled  into  distant  provinces. 
Others  quitted  the  country  precipitately,  and  forever. 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA.  5i> 

Yery  few  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Lake  of  Mex- 
ico. This  occurred  about  the  middle  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury. The  Toltecs  were  great  idolaters.  Their  principal 
Gods  were  the  sun  and  moon,  and  one  of  their  especial 
missions,  appeared  to  have  been  the  erection  of  vast 
temples.* 

Is  the  supposition  either  unreasonable  or  improbable, 
that  these  Toltec  bands  —  outcasts  from  their  own  land 
—  warred  against  by  the  surrounding  nations,  —  and 
rent  by  domestic  feuds,  should  have  betaken  themselves 
to  the  quest  of  new  seats  —  new  homes,  new  fields, 
which  they  could  again  cultivate;  where  they  could 
anew  erect  their  fallen  altars,  and  build  their  massive 
temples?  Recollecting  their  fondness  for  agricultural 
pursuits  —  the  necessity  for  the  presence  of  water,  for 
the  proper  solemnization  of  their  religious  ceremonies  — 
the  fear  of  persecution,  and  utter  destruction,  which 
would  impel  them  far  away  from  their  former  regions, — 
does  it  not  appear  probable,  that  after  coasting  along 
the  shore,  the}'  ascended  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi, 
higher  and  higher,  occupying  its  rich  alluvial  bottoms, 
settling  upon  the  banks  of  its  tributaries,  and  where 
ever  the  attractions  of  neighboring  localities  received 
at  their  hands  a  ready  recognition ;  until,  with  the  lapse 
of  years,  not  only  the  Mississippi,  but  also  the  Ohio, 
and  other  valleys,  became  filled  with  their  increasing 

*  See  Trans.  Amer.  Eth.  Soc,  Vol.  I.,  p.  151. 


56  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

population,  and  the  ever  multiplying  monuments  of 
their  skill,  industry,  and  religious  zeal. 

From  other  wandering  bands,  the  physical  excellen- 
cies of  the  bay  of  Mobile  claimed  attention.  Ascending 
the  waters  of  the  Alabama,  then  those  of  the  Coosa  — 
fixing  one  especial  seat,  where  the  laughing  waters  of 
the  Etowah,  meet  and  mingle  with  the  more  sedate  cur- 
rent of  the  Oostanaula,  —  they  finally  reached  these 
beautiful  valleys,  and  here  erected  these  remarkable 
tumuli,  which  will  keep  alive  for  centuries  yet  to  come, 
the  memory  of  these  Toltcc  refugees. 

Other  colonies  settled  in  the  peninsula  of  Florida, 
and  through  themselves  and  their  descendants,  peopled 
the  lakes,  river-banks,  and  coast  regions.  If  this  hy- 
pothesis be  correct,  we  must  assign,  as  the  period  of  the 
settlement  of  certain  portions  of  our  country  by  the 
Toltecan  Race,  the  third  quarter  of  the  tenth  century. 

Besides  the  idols,  and  the  other  remains  already 
considered,  which,  in  connection  with  information  deri- 
ved from  a  critical  examination  of  their  temples,  tumuli, 
and  fortifications,  tend  materially  to  strengthen  the  con- 
jecture, that  these  Mound-Builders  came  from  Mexico 
to  these  regions,  we  have  the  shell  ornaments  (made 
from  the  species  margineUa  flairda,  occurring  on  the 
coast  of  Florida,  along  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  in  the  West  Indies).  These  shells  are  found  even 
in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio,  and  tell  the  story  of  their 
origin,  as  clearly,  and  as  conclusively,  as  if  it  had  been 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  57 

traced  in  living  letters  upon  enduring  marble.  Specimens 
abound  in  almost  all  of  the  large  tumuli  which  have 
been  opened.  They  exist  in  the  tumuli  of  the  Etowah 
valley. 

Again,  are  seen  antique  tubes  of  telescopic  device. 
By  placing  the  eye  at  the  diminished  point,  the  extrane- 
ous light  is  shut  from  the  pupil,  and  distant  objects  are 
more  distinctly  discovered.  The  effect,  remarks  Mr. 
Schoolcraft,  is  telescopic,  and  is  the  same,  which  is 
known  to  be  produced,  by  directing  the  sight  to  the 
heavens  from  the  bottom  of  a  well;  an  object  which  we 
now  understand  to  have  been  secured  by  the  Aztec  and 
Mia  races,  in  their  astronomical  calculations,  by  con- 
structing tubular  chambers. 

We  have  before  us  a  beautiful  and  valuable  remain  of 
this  character,  accurately  constructed,  and  polished  to  a 
remarkable  degree,  the  description  of  which  must  be 
postponed  for  a  later  page. 

If  this  Mound-Building  race  came,  as  is  supposed  by 
some,  directly  from  Asia  or  Europe,  to  the  shores  of  the 
United  States,  why  is  it  that  we  perceive  no  monu- 
mental traces  of  them,  in  the  regions  where  they  must 
first  have  landed  ?  Why  is  it,  that  they  are  almost  ex- 
clusively confined  to  the  valleys  of  those  rivers,  and 
their  tributaries,  which  communicate  with  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  ? 

It  seems  evident,  again,  that  we  must  seek  a  Mexican 
origin  for  this  civilization,  when  we  remember  that  this 
was  a  race  of  agriculturists. 


58  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA. 

In  the  Tennessee  valley,  cars  of  maize  were  exhumed 
from  the  graves  of  this  very  people.  Mr.  llarriss,  in  his 
Journal,  mentions,  that  in  a  mound,  near  the  large  tu- 
mulus on  Grave  Creek,  was  found  a  stone  signet,  of  an 
oval  shape,  two  inches  in  length,  with  a  figure  in  re- 
lievo, resembling  a  note  of  admiration,  surrounded  by 
two  raised  rims.  It  was  exactly  the  figure  of  the  brand, 
with  which  the  Mexican  horses  were  marked.*  The 
head  of  the  Sus-tajassu,  or  Mexican  hog,  cut  off  square, 
was  found  in  a  saltpetre  cave  in  Kentucky,  by  Dr. 
Brown.  The  nitre  had  preserved  it.  It  had  been  de- 
posited by  the  ancient  inhabitants,  and  must  have  lain 
there  for  many  centuries.  This  animal  is  not  found 
north  of  Mexico.^  ' 

Without  pausing  to  enumerate  the  further  arguments 
and  circumstances  which  might  be  adduced  in  support 
of  this  hypothesis,  and  commending  to  the  considera- 
tion of  those,  who  are  interested  in  the  subject  of  the 
origin  of  the  civilization  of  those  portions  of  North 
America,  which  we  have  been  specifically  considering, 
we  pass  to  the  inquiry  — 

How  long  did  the  Mound- Builders  occupy  these  regions? 
They  have  passed  away.  Their  temples  and  monu- 
ments are  tenantless  now.  The  silent  past  gives  back 
no  decisive  answer  to  the  voice  of  inquiry ;  and  from 
the  great  unknown  void  of  our  aboriginal  history,  we 
receive  no  alphabetic  message,  save  the  small  circular 


*  See  Harriss'  Journal  of  a  Tour,  &c,  p.  62. 
f  See  Arch.  Amer.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  244, 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  59 

stone,  wrested  from  its  sleep  of  ages  in  the  voiceless 
womb  of  Grave  Creek  mound,  with  its  hieroglyphical 
representations,  the  proper  interpretation  of  which,  has 
as  yet  puzzled  the  profoundest  antiquarian  scholars  of 
the  world. 

The  period  of  their  settlement  here,  if  our  conjecture 
be  correct,  was  during  the  third  or  last  quarter  of  the 
tenth  century.  Upon  the  flat  surface  of  the  highest 
part  of  Grave  Creek  mound,  grew  a  large  white  oak. 
In  1828,  it  decayed,  apparently  dying  exclusively  from 
old  age.  When  it  fell,  its  trunk  was  carefully  and 
evenly  cut  off,  in  order  that  the  cortical  layers  might  be 
accurately  counted.  These  numbered  about  five  hun- 
dred. Allowing  a  year  for  the  growth  of  each  layer, 
(the  usual  period  fixed  by  botanists),  this  would  desig- 
nate the  year  1328,  for  the  commencement  of  the 
growth  of  this  tree.* 

This  mound  was  abandoned  then,  one  hundred  and 
sixty  four  years  previous  to  the  discovery  of  this  conti- 
nent by  Columbus.  The  Mexican  Empire  was  then  in 
the  full  tide  of  prosperity.  Assuming  our  idea,  as  to 
the  time  when  the  Mound-Builders  first  occupied  these 
valleys,  to  be  correct,  and  presuming  the  white  oak  tree 
—  whose  age  was  so  definitely  ascertained,  —  to  have 
been  in  its  inception  coeval,  or  very  nearly  so,  with  the 
abandonment  by  that  race  of  their  monuments,  we  have 
an  intermediate  period  of  some  three  hundred  and  sixty 

*  See  Trans.  Amer,  Eth.  Soc,  Vol.  L,  p.  380, 


60  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

years,  as  the  time,  during  which  these  remains  were  con- 
structed, and  these  valleys  occupied  by  the  Mound- 
Builders.  In  the  absence  of  positive  history,  we  are 
thus  compelled  to  invoke  the  aid  of  any  and  every 
circumstance,  tending  to  throw  light  upon  this  hidden 
subject. 

As  has  been  already  intimated,  the  growth  upon  the 
summit  of  these  monuments  in  the  Etowah  Valley,  was 
in  every  respect  as  large,  as  varied,  and  as  luxuriant,  as 
that  of  the  forests  by  which  they  were  surrounded.  If 
any  difference  could  be  perceived,  it  would  indicate  a 
superior  vigor  and  size,  in  favor  of  those  trees  which 
surmounted  the  tumuli,  and  flourished  within  the  en- 
closure formed  by  the  moat  and  the  river.  The  writer 
did  not  enjoy  the  opportunity  of  examining  the  number 
of  cortical  layers  possessed  by  the  largest  trees,  as,  at  the 
time  of  his  visit,  not  only  the  adjacent  portions  of  the 
valley,  but  the  tumuli,  moat,  and  elevations,  had  been 
completely  denuded  of  all  vegetation,  and  were  entirely 
changed  from  their  original  condition  into  luxuriant 
fields. 

Within  this  period  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  years 
—  allowing  only  a  moderate  ratio  of  increase,  —  we  may 
well  understand  how  numerous  must  have  become  the 
population  of  at  first  a  small  colony.  Increasing  and 
multiplying,  every  year  extending  their  possessions,  and 
erecting  new  monuments,  they  spread  from  valley  to 
valley  converting  the  alluvial  bottoms,  rank  with  the 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  61 

luxuriant  growth  of  centuries,  into  flourishing  fields, 
yielding  their  annual  harvests;  perpetuating  in  almost 
imperishable  memorials,  their  devotion  to  the  worship 
of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  raising  immense  tumuli, 
beneath  which  their  generations  sleep. 

When,  therefore,  we  consider  the  length  of  their  so- 
journ in  these  regions — when  we  estimate  the  increase 
of  numbers,  which  must  have  occurred  in  obedience  to 
physical  laws  —  when  we  remember  the  dense  popula- 
tion which  could  have  been  readily  supported  by  the 
agricultural  products  of  these  fertile  regions — the  pecu- 
liar form  of  government  under  which  they  lived,  and  the 
religious  belief  cherished  by  them,  —  we  are  prepared 
to  understand,  how  they  were  able  to  accomplish  the 
erection  of  monuments  so  vast ;  monuments  proclaiming 
themselves  in  tones  that  cannot  be  misinterpreted,  the 
combined  results  of  the  enormous  labor,  and  united  reli- 
gious zeal  of  the  many. 

And  now  the  sad  inquiry  comes  home  to  every  one : 
What  has  become  of  this  teeming  population?  Their 
pleasant  fields  have  either  been  overgrown  by  massive 
forest  trees,  or  give  generous  token,  that  they  are  rejoic- 
ing in  the  teeming  products  of  a  superior  agricultural 
civilization.  Their  solemn  temples — tenantless  now  of 
worshippers  —  deserted  of  their  Gods,  — lie  uncared  for, 
and  exposed  to  the  harsh  influences  of  the  changing  sea- 
sons. No  lettered  shaft  tells  the  story  of  their  coming, 
or  of  their  going.     No  written  history  exists  to  remind 


12  MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

us  aught  of  them.  There  is  that  however,  about  their 
remains,  which  most  distinctly  informs  us,  that  these 
Mound-Builders  had  enemies,  against  whom  they  con- 
tended, and  against  whom  they  were  ever  constructing 
fortifications  and  defences,  of  an  extensive  and  efficient 
character.  In  the  monuments  which  we  have  been  par- 
ticularly considering,  what  means  this  immense  moat, 
excavated  at  the  expense  of  so  much  labor,  with  its 
accompanying  basins  and  breast-works,  if  its  object 
was  not,  to  render  secure  the  enclosed  area,  within 
which  were  located  the  solemn  temples  of  the  Mound- 
Builders,  and  the  sacred  tumuli,  wherein  were  de- 
posited the  mortal  remains  of  their  beloved  dead  ? 
Lines  of  rampart,  composed  of  earth,  and  sometimes  of 
stone,  enclosing  areas,  varying  in  extent  from  twenty  to 
two  hundred  acres; — subterranean  passages,  leading 
from  within  the  walls  to  the  banks  of  a  neighboring 
river,  as  if  to  provide  for  a  supply  of  water  in  the  event 
of  a  siege ;  —  forts  and  watch-towers,  varying  in  their 
form  and  dimensions,  —  all  indicate  most  unmistakably 
the  fact,  that  the  occupancy  of  this  land  was  not  at  all 
times  peaceable  and  without  dispute ;  but  that  on  the 
contrary,  the  Mound-Builders  were  surrounded  by  those, 
who  not  only  warred  against  them,  but  also  threatened 
their  very  existence. 

One  of  two  suppositions  then  appears  correct :  either, 
that  overwhelmed  by  the  repeated  and  successful  as- 
saults of  their  enemies,  they  were  at  length  overcome, 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  63 

and  suffered  at  their  hands  total  annihilation;  or,  that 
retreating  before  the  advance  of  more  powerful  and  war- 
like tribes  of  the  north,  they  descended  the  streams 
which  first  conveyed  their  ancestors  to  these  hospitable 
retreats,  and  again  sought  a  home  within  the  confines  of 
more  southern,  and  perhaps  Mexican  limits.  If  the  lat- 
ter opinion  be  the  correct  one,  the  probability  is,  that 
war,  famine,  and  perhaps  pestilence,  must  most  sadly 
have  thinned  their  retreating  bands. 

In  the  pursuit  of  his  inquiry  into  the  origin  and  his- 
tory of  the  Eed  Eace,  Mr.  Bradford  writes :  It  may  be 
useful  to  inquire,  whether  any  of  the  Indian  traditions 
tend  to  elucidate  the  question  of  the  origin  of  the 
mounds  and  mural  remains.  The  southern  Indians 
state,  that  when  their  ancestors  migrated  from  the  west, 
they  found  these  ruins  deserted,  and  that  the  tribes 
which  they  dispossessed,  had  also  observed  them,  upon 
their  first  occupation  of  the  country.  The  Creeks,  Cher- 
okees,  and  Seminoles,  are  all  united  in  attributing  their 
erection  to  ancient  and  unknown  inhabitants,  without 
any  definite  tradition  upon  the  subject." 

Indeed,  their  origin  is  an  entire  mystery  to  most  of 
the  present  Indian  tribes,  —  a  circumstance  by  no  means 
surprising,  when  we  reflect  that  they  were  not  ac- 
quainted with  any  accurate  and  permanent  method  of 
recording  events.  There  is  an  old  Delaware  tradition, 
which,  whatever  may  be  its  other  claims  to  considera- 

*  See  Bartram's  Travels,  pp.  365,  366. 


64  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

tion,  merits  attention,  as  being  the  only  detailed  narrative 
connected  with  the  history  of  the  Mound-Builders;  and 
for  its  congruity  witb  the  traditions  of  the  Iroquois. 
They  related  that  the  great  race  of  the  Lenni  Lenape, 
many  centuries  ago,  inhabited  a  country  far  to  the  west. 
Upon  migrating  eastwardly,  they  found  the  territory, 
east  of  the  Mississippi,  occupied  by  a  numerous  and 
civilized  people,  whom  they  denominated  the  Alligewi, 
and  who  lived  in  fortified  towns.  The  Indians  made  an 
application  to  pass  over  the  river,  and  through  the 
country  to  the  eastward ;  which  request,  though  at  first 
refused,  was  subsequently  acceded  to,  under  directions 
to  make  no  settlements  until  they  had  passed  the  Alli- 
gewi boundaries.  In  accordance  with  this  permission, 
that  tribe  made  the  attempt;  but  during  the  passage  of 
the  river  was  attacked  and  driven  back.  Upon  this,  a 
league  was  struck  with  the  Iroquois,  who  had  also  emi- 
grated from  the  west,  and  reached  the  river  at  a  higher 
point ;  and  the  combined  forces  of  the  allied  tribes  as- 
sailed the  Alligewi  so  fiercely,  that  after  suffering  severe 
losses  and  numerous  defeats,  to  escape  extermination, 
they  finally  fled  down  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  vast  and  beautiful  territory  thus  abandoned  to  the 
conquerors,  was  divided  between  them ;  the  Iroquois 
selecting  the  district  upon  the  borders  of  the  great  lakes, 
and  the  Lenni  Lenape,  an  extensive  tract  of  land  lying 
further  to  the  south,  and  towards  the  Atlantic.  By  one 
of  the  Iroquois  tribes  (the  Senecas),  it  is  related,  that 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  65 

at  a  very  distant  era,  the  country  about  the  lakes  was 
occupied  by  a  powerful  and  populous  nation,  subse- 
quently destroyed  by  their  ancestors. 

Several  of  the  most  beautiful,  and  the  richest  locations 
of  the  Six  Nations,  are  stated  by  them  to  have  been  in- 
habited and  cultivated  before  their  arrival,  by  another 
people,  whose  burial  places  they  distinguished  from 
their  own.  The  tradition  they  have  received  of  these 
ancient  inhabitants  from  their  fathers  states,  that  the}' 
formerly  occupied  a  wide  extent  of  territory,  and  were 
eventually  extirpated  by  the  Iroquois,  after  long  and 
bloody  wars.  It  is  added  in  detail,  that  the  last  fortifi- 
cation was  attacked  by  four  of  the  tribes,  who  were 
repulsed;  but  the  Mohawks  having  been  called  in, 
their  combined  power  was  irresistible;  the  town  was 
taken,  and  all  the  besieged  destroyed." 

The  conformity  of  these  traditions  to  the  vestiges  of 
civilization  at  the  west,  and  to  the  Mexican  narratives 
as  contained  in  their  paintings,  entitles  them  to  more 
weight  than  they  would  otherwise  deserve.  They  pro- 
ceed also  from  nations,  which,  from  their  numbers,  their 
extensive  diffusion  over  a  wide  region,  and  some  features 
in  their  customs  and  character,  appear  to  be  among  the 


*  Traditions  of  the  Kaakaskia  and  Tuscarora  Indians,  make  direct 
reference  to  ancient  Indian  wars  and  contentions.  The  ruins  of  Cheche- 
ticali,  of  Peos,  of  the  platform  mounds  of  Florida,  and  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  as  well  as  minor  monumental  reliquas  bearing  evidences  of  a  su- 
perior cultivation,  and  of  arts,  beyond  those  possessed  by  the  North 
American  Indians,  assure  us  of  the  fact,  that  a  foreign  people  trod  at 
least  a  portion  of  this  continent  before  the  era  of  Columbus,  or  the  plant- 
ing of  Virginia.     See  Schoolcraft's  History,  &C,  —  preface. 

9 


66  MUX l' MENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEOEGIA. 

first,  and  most  ancient  occupants,  alter  the  country  was 
abandoned  by  its  former  inhabitants. 

The  Algonquin,  Lenape,  and  Iroquois,  seem  to  have 
been  borne  upon  the  first  wave  of  that  tide  of  migra- 
tion from  the  west,  which  probably  swept  before  it  the 
Aztecs  and  Toltecs  —  and  the  former,  were  in  precisely 
that  position,  where  we  should  expect  to  find  the  fore- 
most of  the  invading  hordes,  —  at  the  east,  and  along 
the  shores  of  the  Atlantic.  It  is  unnecessary  to  exam- 
ine minutely  the  native  traditions,  to  prove  the  direction 
of  these  migratory  movements;  for  no  fact  is  more 
clearly  established,  than  their  universal  agreement,  in 
tracing  their  origin  to  the  west  or  south-west. 

These  facts,  in  connection  with  those  which  have  been 
exhibited,  as  proving  the  common  origin  of  all  the  Abo- 
rigines, favor  the  conclusion,  that  the  original  source  of 
population  is  to  be  placed  in  Mexico  and  Central  Amer- 
ica; and  the  vestiges  of  civilization  observed  among 
the  Natchez  and  other  nations ;  the  traditions  of  a  period 
when  many  tribes  were  more  cultivated  and  numerous 
than  at  present ;  the  evidences  which  exist  of  important 
alterations  in  dress,  customs  and  religion,  and  a  declen- 
sion in  the  arts,  since  the  discovery,  all  tend  to  confirm 
this  idea.  The  exceptions,  if  any,  which  exist,  are  chiefly 
confined  to  some  western  and  northern  tribes,  to  which 
an  Asiatic  origin  by  Behring's  Straits,  and  the  Alentian 
Islands,  may  with  some  plausibility  be  ascribed.* 

*  See  Bradford's  American  Antiquities,  p.  205,  et  seq. 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  67 

After  a  notice  of  the  tribes,  once  resident  in  Mexico, 
and  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  Mr.  Schoolcraft 
observes.  We  learn  that  there  were  two  great  ethno- 
logical families  of  red  men  in  America.  Occupying 
different  latitudes,  separated  by  climatic  barriers,  and 
holding  diverse  positions  in  the  scale  of  civilization, 
they  inhabited  coterminous  countries,  and  were  in  char- 
acter sui  generis.  They  coincided  in  general  features, 
character,  habits,  and  modes  of  thought  and  action.  The 
vocabularies  of  their  languages  differed;  but  the  gram- 
matical structure  of  them,  and  the  philosophical  princi- 
ples upon  which  they  were  based,  were  remarkably 
coincident.  Their  arts  and  occupations  were  also  dis- 
similar—  one  being  an  agricultural  people,  and  the 
other,  still  retaining  their  normal  type  of  hunters  and 
foresters.  The  picture  writing  of  the  Aztecs,  was  an 
improvement  on  pictography. 

There  was  nothing  however,  in  which  the  broad  line 
of  separation  was  more  clearly  defined,  than  in  their 
modes  of  government.  The  American  class  adhered  to 
a  primitive  patriarchal  or  representative  form,  under 
the  control  of  chiefs  and  councils;  the  other  groaned 
under  a  fearfully  despotic  rule.  While  the  one  class  of 
tribes  had  not  emerged  from  the  simple  hunter  state, 
and  still  roamed  through  the  vast  forests  of  America, 
filled  with  animals  and  birds  of  every  plumage,  the 
other  class  had  made  important  progress  in  arts,  agri- 
culture, and  architecture. 


(36  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA. 

The  investigation  of  the  antique  remains  of  labor  and 
art,  scattered  over  the  Indian  Country  west  of  the  Allc- 
ghanies^  which  was  instituted  with  a  view  of  procuring 

some  clue  to  the  early  history  of  the  people  formerly 
resident  on  the  soil,  devclopes  a  general  correspondence 
between  them,  and  those  common  among  the  Mexican 
tribes  at  the  era  of  the  occupation  of  the  Mexican  val- 
ley by  the  Ohichimacos  and  Acolhuans,  or  Tescorans; 
which  event  Clarigero  places  in  1170.  These  barbarous 
tribes  were  not  conquered,  nor  was  Tauochtitlan,  or 
Mexico  founded,  until  1824 

Could  the  veil  of  oblivion  be  lifted  from  the  events 
which  transpired  in  the  Mississippi  valley  at  that  date, 
i.  e.  one  hundred  and  ninety-five,  or  two  hundred  years 
before  the  advent  of  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico,  it  would 
in  all  probability,  be  found  to  have  been  thickly  inhab- 
ited by  fierce,  athletic  and  barbarous  tribes,  possessing 
all  the  elements  of  progress  known  to  the  Chichimacoans 
and  their  associates.  These  tribes  were  worshippers  of 
of  the  sun,  whom  they  propitiated  by  fires  kindled  on 
the  apex  of  high  hills;  they  erected  sepulchral  mounds, 
in  which  they  interred  the  remains  of  their  kings  and 
rulers;  and  they  incessantly  maintained  the  same  fierce 
strife  with  all  their  neighbors,  which  has  marked  the 
entire  Indian  race  during  three  and  a  half  centuries. 
If  the  Mississippi  tribes  defended  a  town,  as  the  existing 
remains  indicate,  by  ditches  and  pickets,  in  which  there 
was  a  zig-zag  gate,  conforming  to  the  Tlascalan  fashion ; 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  69 

precisely  the  same  mode  was  prevalent  among  the  bar- 
barous tribes  of  Mexico,  at  the  period  when  our  south- 
ern stocks  segregated  from  them. 

So  few  traces  of  art,  were  observable  among  the 
Vesperic  tribes  along  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  from 
the  capes  of  Florida  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  that  when  the 
population  of  the  colonics  began  to  cross  the  Alleghanies, 
and  descend  into  the  rich  agricultural  valleys  of  the 
Ohio,  and  the  Mississippi,  surprise  was  expressed,  to 
find  concealed  beneath  a  forest  growth,  the  ruins  of 
labor  and  arts,  which  appeared  superior  to  any,  known 
to  have  been  practised  by  the  ancestors  of  the  existing 
tribes. 

The  accounts  of  the  fertile  soil,  genial  climate,  and 
natural  beauty  of  the  Ohio  valley,  given  about  the  year 
1770,  by  hunters  and  adventurers,  appeared,  when 
recounted  east  of  the  mountains,  like  talcs  of  some 
newly-found  elysium,  or  land  of  promise.  The  desire 
for  the  acquisition  of  landed  property  was  universal ; 
America  rang  with  the  tale ;  and  a  collision  of  races 
was  the  consequent  result.  The  earliest  explorations  of 
a  reliable  character,  were  those  which  date  from  the 
generic  era  of  Washington's  youthful  visit  in  1754. 
The  first  grant  of  land  from  the  Indians,  was  that  made 
to  William  Treat  and  his  associates  in  1768,  and  con- 
veyed the  tract  situate  between  the  Monongahela  and 
Ohio  rivers.  Detached  tracts  were  located,  and  settle- 
ments began  to  be  made  in  1770 ;  which  is  the  date  of 


70  IIONUJIBNTAL   REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

the  founding  of  Bed  Stone,  or  Brownsville,  west  of  tlic 
mountain  slope  at  the  foot  of  Laurel  Hill,  Some  other 
locations  were  made  in  these  valleys,  between  the  years 
1770  and  1772.  At  the  latter  period,  explorers  reached 
the  noted  flats,  covered  with  Indian  tumuli,  the  stream 
through  which,  hence  received  the  name  of  Grave-Creek. 
Fort  Banner  was  erected  in  1785,  at  the  junction  of  the 
Muskingum  Eiver  with  the  Ohio.  Within  a  couple  of 
years  thereafter.  Congress  extended  its  jurisdiction  north, 
west  of  Ohio,  appointed  a  Governor,  and  provided  a 
Judiciary ;  thus  establishing  a  reliable  protection  for  the 
settlements.  On  the  7th  of  May,  1788,  Putnam,  and 
his  New  England  associates,  landed  at,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  Marietta.  This  may  be  assumed  as  the 
earliest  period,  at  which  attention  was  attracted  to  a  spe* 
cies  of  Indian  antiquarian  remains,  bearing  evidence  of 
art,  superior  to  anything  known  among  the  existing 
Indian  tribes. 

Marietta  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  locations,  where  the 
antiquarian  remains  of  prior  occupancy  existed,  and  still 
exist,  in  one  of  their  most  striking  and  enigmatical 
forms.  They  embraced  the  acute  form  of  the  ordinary 
Indian  sepulchral  mound,  but  wrere  composed  of  a  raised 
platform  of  earth,  of  the  general  form  of  a  parallelopi- 
pedon,  pierced  with  gates  or  spaces,  clearly  used  as  pub- 
lic entrances ;  and,  if  the  outer  lines  of  the  raised  wrork 
be  supposed  to  have  been  surmounted  with  wooden  pick- 
ets, and    turrets   for    marksmen,  the  whole  must  have 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  71 

presented  a  palatial  display.     The  height  of  the  level 
floor  of  this  fortified  establishment,  could  not  possibly 
have  exceeded  seven  or  eight  feet,  and  though  its  solid 
cubical  contents  were  considerable,  it  was  not  probably 
beyond   the   ability  of  the   inhabitants  of  a  populous 
Indian  town  to  construct.     Such  a  structure,  raised  by 
the  Toltecs  or  Aztecs,   or  their  predecessors,  would  not 
have  excited  remark,  either  on  account  of  the  amount 
of  labor  expended  on  it,  or  of  the  skill  evinced  in  its 
construction :  but  being  a  deserted  ruin,  in  the  territo- 
ries of  tribes  who  possessed  neither  much  art,  nor  indus- 
try,   beyond   the   merest  requirements  of  pure   hunter 
tribes,  they  became  a  theme  of  conjecture,  and  excited 
wonder :  the  more  so,  as  the  discoverers  had  never  seen 
the  evidences  of  semi-civilization  evinced  by  the  Indian 
tribes  of  Mexico.     As  the  country  filled  up  with  popu- 
lation, other  remains  of  analogous  kind  were  brought  to 
light,  most  of  which  were  in  the  form  of  small  sepul- 
chral  mounds   or  barrows,    ditches,   or   entrenchments 
once  surmounted  by  pickets ;  but  they  excited  little  re- 
mark, except  as  bearing  evidence  of  the  ordinary  appear- 
ance of  an  Indian  town.     The  great  tumulus  at  Grave 
Creek,  had  early  attracted  notice  on  account  of  its  size. 
There  was  scarcely  a  tributary  stream,  from  Pittsburg  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  which  did  not  yield  some  vestige 
of  this  kind :  but  there  was  no  locality,  in  which  the 
earth- works  were  so  abundant  and  complicated,  as  in  the 
Scioto   valley.     Those   at   Chillicothe,   Circleville,   and 


72  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA. 

Paint  Creek,  evinced  the  existence  of  a  once  numerous 
ancient  population.  The  entire  area  of  the  States  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  as  well  as  the  surrounding 
borders  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  appeared  to  have 
been  the  theatre  of  dense  Indian  occupancy,  partial  cul- 
tivation, and  of  a  peculiar  character  of  internal  com- 
merce. There,  the  antiquarian  found  specimens  of 
hammered  native  copper,  steatites  for  amulets  and  pipes 
—  the  delicate  marginella  shell  —  mica  obsidian,  and 
horn-stone  suitable  for  arrow-heads. 

The  art  of  making  cooking-pots  and  vases  from  tem- 
pered clay,  was  understood  and  practised  by  all  the 
tribes,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  to  the  farthest 
extent  north  and  east.  The  conch,  and  other  heavy 
sea-shells  were  ingeniously  carved  into  medals,  beads,  and 
wampum.  An  extensive  trade  was  carried  on  in  native 
copper,  mined  from  the  basin  of  Lake  Superior.  The 
fine  red  pipe-stone,  from  the  dividing  grounds  between 
Missouri  and  Mississippi,  has  been  found  in  the  antique 
Indian  graves  around  Oswego  and  Onondaga.  Wrist- 
bands and  chisels,  of  hammered  native  copper,  were  also 
found.  The  tips  of  the  horns  of  quadrupeds,  were  used 
as  awls;  and  a  thin,  tubular  piece  of  siliceous  clay  slate, 
worked  into  the  shape  of  a  parrallelogram,  and  pierced 
with  two  orifices,  was  employed  to  separate  the  strands, 
in  making  cords  or  ropes.  Thin  pieces  of  bone,  with 
an  eye  delicately  drilled  in  them,  served  the  purpose  of 
bodkins.     Mortars  for  crushing  corn,  were  scooped  out 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  73 

of  solid  pieces  of  rock.  Fire  was  produced  by  the  rapid 
rotation  of  a  stick,  with  a  string  and  bow.  Discoidal 
stones,  fabricated  with  great  labor  from  pieces  of  hard 
granite,  and  porphyry,  were  used  in  games.  Chisels, 
made  of  hard  stone,  were  employed  for  removing  the 
incinerated  part  of  trunks  of  trees,  in  the  process  of  fel- 
ling them,  and  also,  in  converting  them  into  canoes; 
tomahawks,  in  the  shape  of  lunettes,  having  sharp  points, 
and  an  orifice  in  which  to  insert  a  handle,  supplied 
the  place  of  iron  blades.  Smoking-pipes  were  formed 
of  clay  ;  but  this  cherished  article  was  generally  carved 
out  of  stone,  with  much  skill  and  ingenuity.  Long 
spear-points  were  made  from  chert  and  horn-stone. 
Fleshing  instruments,  used  in  the  primary  process  of 
preparing  skins,  were  made  from  porphyry  and  other 
hard  stones.        *        '::*         *         ::" 

The  mounds  erected  by  them,  varied  much  in  size. 
The  largest  spherical  circumference  of  any  of  the 
mounds,  is  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  feet,  and  that  of 
the  smallest,  twenty  feet.  The  greatest  height  attained, 
is  ninety  feet;  and  the  two  principal  mounds  of  Caho- 
kia  and  Grave  Creek,  could  not  contain  much  less 
than  three  million  square  feet  of  earth.  The  most 
copious  evidences  of  the  density  of  the  former  popu- 
lation, and  of  their  cultivation,  were  found  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,  on  the  extensive  and  fertile  alluvial 
plains  in  Illinois,  opposite  to  the  present  city  of  St. 
Louis,  thence  extending  to  Kaskaskia,  and  the  junction 
10 


74  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

of  the  Ohio,  and  up  the  valley  of  the  latter,  into  the 
territory  of  the  ancient  Andastes,  Eriea  and  Iroquois. 
The  Scioto  Valley  must  have  contained  a  dense  hunter 
and  semi-agricultural  population,  previous  to  its  occu- 
pancy by  the  Shawnees;  and  the  Grave  Creei  flats 
appear  to  have  been  the  central  location  of  populous 
tribes.  The  most  striking  evidences  of  agricultural  in- 
dustry, were  disclosed  in  the  forests  and  prairies  of 
Indiana  and  southern  Michigan,  during  the  settlement 
of  the  countiy,  between  the  years  1827  and  1837. 

These  points  of  the  rich  domains  of  the  west,  may  be 
conjectured  to  have  supplied  the  means  of  subsistence 
for  the  aboriginal  miners  of  Lake  Superior.  The  small 
growth  of  the  forest  trees  in  the  ancient  mining  excava- 
tions of  that  region,  does  not  give  evidence  of  an 
antiquity  more  remote  than  the  twelfth  century  — if  it 
even  extends  to  that  time.  Mauls  of  stone,  and  the  ele- 
ments of  fire  and  water,  were  the  principal  agents  em- 
ployed. The  natural  lodes  and  veins  of  native  copper, 
for  which  that  region  is  so  remarkable,  were  followed 
horizontally.  There  is  reason  to  believe,  that  the  process 
of  mining  in  the  northern  latitudes  of  the  region  of  Lake 
Superior,  was  carried  on  periodically,  by  persons  who 
derived  their  sustenance  from,  or  who  permanently  re- 
sided in  the  genial  plains  south  of  the  great  lake.  The 
exploration,  for  some  cause,  appears  to  have  been  sud- 
denly abandoned,  as  if  the  miners  were  driven  off  by 
an  inroad  of  barbarous  hordes. 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  75 

From  .an  examination  of  the  ages  of  trees,  as  disclosed 
by  the  annual  deposit  of  vegetable  fibre,  the  termination 
of  the  ancient  mound  period,  appears  to  have  occurred 
in  the  twelfth,  or  early  in  the  thirteenth  century.  There 
seems  then,  to  have  been  a  general  disturbance  among, 
and  breaking  up  of  the  aboriginal  stocks. 

The  late  Dr.  Locke,  after  counting  the  cortical  rings 
of  trees  growing  on  the  ancient  work,  found  by  him  in 
Ohio  in  1838,  determined  it  to  have  existed  six  hundred 
years  ;  which  would  place  its  abandonment  in  1238. 
Mr.  Tomlinson,  the  proprietor  of  the  large  tumulus  at 
Grave  Creek,  in  Virginia,  states,  that  a  large  tree,  of  the 
species  quercus  aXbus,  which  stood  on  the  flat  surface  of 
the  apex  of  that  mound,  blew  down  in  1828,  and  in 
counting  the  cortical  rings,  they  were  ascertained  to  be 
five  hundred;  which  denotes  that  the  tree  commenced 
its  cortical  deposits  in  1328. 

General  George  Rogers  Clark,  whose  opportunities 
for  making  a  personal  inspection  of  the  western  vestiges 
of  the  mound  period,  were  extensive,  —  expresses  the 
opinion,  that  these  remains  do  not  exceed  the  age  of  five 
hundred  years;  which  would  place  the  date  of  their 
abandonment  about  the  year  1380. 

The  tumuli  or  mounds,  continues  Mr.  Schoolcraft, 
constituted  no  part  of  the  military  defence,  though  fre- 
quently located  at  or  near  the  entrenched  towers;  but 
were  devoted  exclusively  to  ecclesiastical  or  sepulchral 
purposes,  and  were  under  the  care  and  control  of  the 


70  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

priesthood.  Some  of  the  smaller  mounds  had  been 
merely  circular  altars  of  earth,  a  few  feet  in  height ;  but 
after  serving  this  purpose  a  long  time,  they  were  heaped 
up  with  loose  earth  into  the  shape  of  cones,  and  left  as 
memorials  of  the  Indian. 

The  whole  field  of  antiquarian  research,  as  repre- 
sented in  the  Mississippi  Valley  monuments,  may  be 
regarded  as  the  local  nucleus,  and  highest  point  of  devel- 
opment of  art  and  industry  attained  by  the  Eed  Race, 
after  their  segregation  from  the  nomadic  Toltec  stocks. 
These  monuments  were  widely  scattered,  but  they  as- 
sume the  same  mixed  sepulchral,  and  civic  character, 
which  is  apparent  in  those  found  along  the  Alleghany 
branch  of  the  Ohio,  in  western  New  York,  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  Union.  The  largest  mounds  in  the 
Union,  and  those  which  are  truncated  or  terraced,  bear 
the  closest  resemblance  to  the  Mexican  teocalli.  They 
occupy  the  most  southern  portions  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  and  Florida.  They  become  less  in  size  as  we 
progress  north,  and  cease  entirely  after  reaching  the  lati- 
tude of  Lake  Pepin,  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  the  head- 
waters of  the  Wisconsin,  and  the  mining  excavations  of 
Lake  Superior."?* 

We  have  thus  presented  the  reader  with  a  general 
view  of  the  monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  be- 
cause they,  and  the  principal  remains  of  the  Etowah 

*  See  Schoolcraft's  History,  &c.,  part  VI.,  p.  595,  ct  seq. 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  77 

Valley  which  we  have  been  considering,  are  both  to  be 
referred  to  the  same  period,  and  are  the  results  of  the 
industry  of  the  same  race.  It  is  an  interesting  fact,  that 
the  large  central  tumulus,  designated  by  the  letter  A, 
upon  the  accompanying  plan,  will  compare  favorably  in 
extent  and  interest,  with  the  most  remarkable  yet  de- 
scribed in  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio. 

It  has  not  been  our  pleasure,  as  yet,  to  have  exam- 
ined the  monuments  of  the  Chattahoochee  Valley,  and 
those  which  lie  scattered  through  the  peninsula  of 
Florida.  We  trust  however,  at  no  distant  day,  to  enjoy 
an  opportunity  for  so  doing,  and  will  hope  in  a  future 
paper,  to  furnish  the  results  of  those  observations. 

For  an  extended  and  specific  description  of  the  mon- 
uments of  the  Mississippi,  Ohio,  Sicioto,  and  Paint 
Creek  Valleys,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  works  of  Mr. 
Schoolcraft;  to  the  primary  volume  of  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society,  published  in  1820,  under  the  title 
of  Archoeologia  Americana,  containing  the  observations 
of  Mr.  Atwater,  with  reference  to  the  earth-works  at 
Newark,  Marietta,  Circlevilie,  Paint  Creek,  Portsmouth, 
in  the  little  Miami  Valle}~,  at  Grave  Creek,  and  at  other 
places  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  in  the  Western  States ; 
and  also  to  the  full  and  comprehensive  memoir  on  this 
subject,  under  the  caption  of  ''Monuments  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,"  published  in  the  transactions  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution ;  the  information  therein  con- 
tained, having  been  derived  from  personal  surveys, 
principally  made  by  Mr.  E.  G.  Squier,  and  Dr.  Davis. 


76  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA. 

A  comparison  of  the  civilization  of  the  Mound-Build- 
ers, as  disclosed  by  the  varied  remains  which  they  have 
left  behind  them  in  the  valleys  of  t lie  Mississippi,  and 
its  tributaries  —  as  well  as  in  the  regions  to  which  our  in- 
quiries have  been  specifically  directed  —  with  the  ancient 
civilization  of  many  parts  of  Central  America,  Mexico 
and  Peru,  while  it  discloses  not  a  few  differences,  will  on 
tfre  whole,  we  are  inclined  to  believe,  evince  a  commu- 
nity of  purpose,  object,  and  origin.  At  a  later  period, 
we  hope  to  institute  this  contrast. 

The  condition  of  the  arts  among  this  people,  may  be 
briefly  stated  as  follows : 

I.  To  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  to  agricultural 
pursuits,  they  devoted  much  attention  —  in  the  selection 
of  sites  for  their  temples  and  villages,  always  choosing 
those  rich  alluvial  bottoms,  of  almost  exhaustless  fertil- 
ity, which  would  for  centuries,  generously  reward  the 
labor  of  the  husbandman. 

II.  They  understood  the  uses  of  clay  —  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  various  articles  for  service  and  ornament, 
combining  this  substance  with  others,  which  imparted  a 
permanency  and  consistency,  often  remarkable.  The 
pottery  of  this  people,  is  far  superior  to  that  made  by 
the  Indians  ;  differing  from  the  latter  in  many  essentials 
of  form,  color,  and  constituent  elements.  They  appear 
also  to  have  manufactured  a  sun  dried,  and  sometimes 
fire-burnt  brick,  made  of  clay,  which  was  employed  in 
connection  with  round  and  flat  stones,  in  the  construc- 
tion of  paved  ways,  leading  from  the  settlements  to  the 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS    OF   GEORGIA.  79 

neighboring  stream  or  spring ;  and  also  in  flooring  cir- 
cular depressed  localities  of  varied  dimensions,  the  spe- 
cific uses  of  which  at  this  remote  period,  can  only  be 
conjectured. 

III.  With  the  mechanical  advantages  of  the  wedge, 
and  inclined  plane,  they  were  familiar. 

IV.  That  the  art  of  sculpture,  and  working  in  stone, 
was  understood,  at  least  to  a  considerable  extent,  is 
clearly  proven  by  the  numerous  remains  still  extant. 
Some  of  their  idols,  pipes,  sacrificial  plates,  &c,  were 
fashioned  with  a  degree  of  precision,  polish,  and  beauty, 
which  renders  them  quite  remarkable. 

V.  Silver  ornaments  have  been  found  in  the  mounds 
of  the  Etowah  Valley.  One  of  them,  — a  silver  buckle, 
in  the  form  of  a  heart  —  is  before  us  as  we  write.  It 
is  fashioned  of  native  silver,  unalloyed,  and  although 
rather  rude  in  its  construction,  answered  well  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  designed.  A  specific  description 
of  this  interesting  remain,  will  be  postponed  for  the 
present. 

We  are  credibly  informed  by  eye  witnesses,  that  gold- 
beads,  and  copper  utensils,  have  also  been  exhumed  in 
this  valley. 

VI.  Isinglass  (mica  membranacea)  appears  to  have 
been  selected  by  them,  as  the  material  best  suited  to 
answer  the  purposes  of  a  mirror.  Although  no  perfect 
mirror  has  come  under  our  observation,  yet  large  frag- 
ments, carefully  prepared,  have  been  found  in  and 
around  these  tumuli. 


80  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OP   GEORGIA. 

VII.  Of  the  probable  theory  of  their  government, 

we  have  already  spoken  :  and  have  before  alluded  to  the 
character  of  their  religious  belief  and  worship. 

VIII.  The  nature  and  extent  of  their  fortifications, 
all  indicate  a  degree  of  civilization  much  superior  to 
that,  which  belongs  to  the  condition  of  such,  as  have 
not  advanced  beyond  the  hunter  state. 

IX.  The  angular  construction  of  many  of  their  tu- 
muli, discloses  a  knowledge  and  recognition  of  the  car- 
dinal points;  and  as  it  sufficiently  appears,  that  their 
principal  devotions  were  paid  to  the  sun,  and  perhaps 
to  the  moon,  it  may  be,  that  their  knowledge  of  astron- 
omy extended  also  to  the  apparent  motions  of  some  of 
the  other  heavenly  bodies.  The  principal  angle  of  the 
tumulus  is  generally  toward  the  east  —  and  the  ap- 
proach, almost  without  exception,  on  the  eastern  side.* 

X.  Xo  traces  of  alphabetic,  or  hieroglyphic  writing, 
have  as  yet  been  discovered  in  this  valley.  Occasion- 
ally, upon  the  surface  of  a  pipe  is  seen  the  counte- 
nance of  a  human  being  —  a  representation  of  a  risen 
sun  —  a  circle  —  an   eye  —  the   beak  of  an  eagle — or 

*  It  appears  from  certain  traditions  that  the  Ottawwaus  oflered  sacrifl- 
ces  to  the  sun  and  moon.  The  changes  of  the  moon  afforded  to  the 
Indian  Tribes  a  method  of  measuring  time,  Of  the  true  cause  of  the 
increase  and  decrease  of  the  moon,  of  eclipses,  and  of  other  phenomena 
which  depend  upon  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  they  had  no  cor- 
rect conceptions.  The  Aurora  Borealis  they  call  the  dance  of  the  dead. 
See  Tanner's  Narrative,  p.  322,  et  seq. 

Although  we  have  no  positive  proofs  to  justify  the  supposition,  the 
probability  is,  that  the  Mound-Builders  possessed  a  knowledge  of  As- 
tronomy superior  to  that  enjoyed  by  the  Indians.  Occupying  a  higher 
position  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  they  had 
acquainted  themselves  with  many  facts,  in  reference  to  the  revolutions  of 
fhe  heavenly  bodies,  which  are  the  results  of  continued  observation. 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  81 

some  other  delineation  descriptive  of  some  physical  ob- 
ject. In  tracing  various  devices  upon  their  shell  orna- 
ments, they  exhibited  no  little  skill  and  ingenuity.  All 
of  these  representations  however,  we  are  inclined  to  re- 
gard, as  evidencing  the  taste  and  ingenuity  of  the  artist, 
and  not  as  indicating  any  positive  attempt  at  picto- 
graphic  or  historic  narration.  We  find  no  written 
records  of  the  past.  Upon  the  rock  walls  which  fence 
in  this  valley,  we  look  in  vain  for  any  monumental 
trace  of  their  history.  Among  the  stone  fragments 
which  here  and  there  intermingle  with  the  soil  upon 
which  they  dwelt  for  centuries,  we  search  in  vain  for  a 
single  tablet,  whereon  were  engraven  their  laws.  A 
people  without  letters,  they  lived  and  died;  and  the 
Muse  of  History  scarce  finds  an  epitaph  for  their  tombs. 
Sad,  but  striking  commentary,  upon  the  evanescent  con- 
dition of  that  society,  whose  members  have  never  been 
trained  to  brave  deeds  and  ennobling  thoughts  —  whose 
intellectual  powers  have  slumbered  the  sleep  of  centu- 
ries—  who  trusted  to  the  failing  voice  of  the  aged  war- 
rior, to  recount  their  warlike  prowess,  —  and  committed 
to  the  dying  memory  of  the  chieftain,  the  historical 
records  of  their  past  existence — who  gave  to  the  passing 
air,  the  spoken  word  —  but  carved  not  a  line,  to  trans- 
mit to  coming  generations  assurance  of  their  existence. 
It  is  a  remarkable,  as  well  as  a  sad  fact,  that  the  Ameri- 
can tribes  came  to  this  continent,  without  either  alpha- 
bet, phonetic  sign,  or  digit. 
11 


82  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

Both  above  and  below  these  remarkable  remains  upon 
the  plantation  of  Col.  Tumlin,  in  the  valley  of  the  Eto- 
wah, we  find  mounds,  and  other  organic  traces  of  the 
Mound-Builders,  proving  that  they  fully  occupied  this 
region. 

"Without  pausing  to  describe  them  minutely,  we  may 
in  passing  allude  to  the  fact,  that  in  various  localities  in 
the  bends,  and  near  the  banks  of  the  river,  still  exist 
mounds,  isolated,  and  in  groups  —  generally  circular, 
sometimes  ovoidal,  and  again  quadrangular  or  pentago- 
nal in  form  —  circular  stone-paved  waj^s  —  avenues  lead- 
ing from  the  vicinity  of  the  tumuli  to  the  river  —  eleva- 
ted spaces,  perfectly  level  at  the  top,  which  may  have 
been  used  as  places  of  amusement,  or  as  sites  for  the 
erection  of  their  abodes ;  while  fragments  of  their  pot- 
tery, and  various  utensils  of  their  handiwork,  are  con- 
stantly disclosed  by  the  plough-share,  in  the  cultivation 
of  this  beautiful  valley. 

Just  where  the  Etowah  and  Oostanaula  meet  and 
mingle  their  waters,  forming  the  Coosa;  upon  the 
point  of  land,  whose  base  is  washed  by  the  waves  of 
these  three  rivers,  formerly  stood  an  interesting  mound, 
circular  in  shape,  some  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  in  height, 
and  with  a  diameter  at  the  base,  of  not  less  than  fifty 
feet.  The  earth  and  clay  which  composed  this  tumulus, 
have  almost  all  been  removed ;  the  same  having  been 
employed  in  levelling  the  streets  of  the  village  of  Kome, 
and  in  the  construction  of  a  suitable  landing  place  for  a 
ferry  boat. 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  83 

From  this  mound,  the  silver  ornament,  and  gold 
beads,  to  which  allusion  has  been  already  made,  were 
taken.  It  was  found  to  contain  numerous  skeletons  — 
pots  —  vases  —  stone  axes  —  arrow-heads  —  spear-heads 
■ —  shell  ornaments  —  pipes  —  copper  beads  —  mortars  — 
silver  ornaments  —  circular  stones,  carefully  rounded 
and  polished  —  besides  other  relics  of  a  less  interesting 
character.  Along  the  banks  of  the  Etowah  and  the 
Oostanaula  on  this  side,  are  numerous  traces  of  inhuma* 
tion.  This  spot  appears  to  have  been  consecrated  to  the 
purposes  of  burial.  The  swollen  tide  of  these  rivers 
never  washes  the  shore,  without  bringing  to  light  new 
proofs  of  this  fact.  In  the  immediate  neighborhood, 
were  several  other  mounds  of  smaller  dimensions,  all  of 
which  seem  to  have  been  devoted  to  the  purposes  of 
sepulture.  They  are  now  nearly  level  with  the  plain. 
Upon  the  very  spot,  occupied  by  at  least  two  of  them, 
have  been  reared  the  dwellings  and  work-shops  of  an- 
other and  a  nobler  race.  The  contents  of  these  were  all 
similar,  and  like  those  of  the  larger  tumulus  at  the 
junction  of  the  Etowah  and  Oostanaula  Kivers.  They 
were  composed  of  the  blue  cla}r,  and  alluvial  soil  of 
the  valley,  interspersed  with  stones,  and  muscle  shells 
taken  from  the  beds  of  the  circumfluent  streams. 

Of  the  race  by  whom  these  mounds  were  erected,  the 
Cherokees  could  give  no  information.  When  questioned 
as  to  their  origin,  by  the  whites  who  first  located  here, 
their  reply  was,  that  they  possessed  not  even  a  tradition 


84  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA 

of  the  people  who  constructed  them  —  referring  them  to 
the  labor  of  a  race,  of  which  they  knew  nothing,  and 
who  had  preceded  them  in  the  occupancy  of  this  region. 

Tradition  designates  this,  as  the  spot  rendered  memo- 
rable by  a  battle,  which  DeSoto  and  his  adventurous 
band  are  said  here  to  have  fought  with  the  natives. 
Without  considering  the  probability  or  improbability  of 
this  alleged  historical  fact,  certain  it  is,  that  the  remains 
now  under  consideration,  are  not  to  be  referred  to  that 
period.  They  are  much  older  —  as  is  conclusively 
shown  by  the  vegetation  which  covered  them  —  and  by 
the  internal  evidence  of  the  mounds. 

A  casual  examination  of  the  base  of  the  principal  tu- 
mulus, and  the  removal  of  the  earth  along  the  face  of 
the  bluff  to  the  depth  of  some  five  feet,  disclosed  a 
number  of  skeletons  —  ranges  of  vases  and  pots,  vary- 
ing in  size  and  shape  —  soap-stone  ornaments  —  fleshing 
knives  —  arrow  and  spear-heads,  &c.  Doubtless,  the  in- 
dustrious antiquarian  can  here  still  find  many  remains, 
possessing  no  little  interest,  and  which  will  richly  reward 
the  labor  and  care  involved  in  the  search  for  them. 

Beautiful  in  all  its  features,  is  this  necropolis  of  a  de- 
parted race.  Standing  upon  the  almost  obliterated 
traces  of  the  larger  mound,  whose  base  is  washed  by  the 
confluent  waves  of  the  Etowah  and  the  Oostanaula,  the 
eye,  gladdened  by  the  joyful  meeting,  watches  the 
stranger  wavelets,  now  friends,  as  in  joyous  companion- 
ship they  leap  along  the  current  of  the  softly  gliding 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  85 

Coosa  —  now  sporting  with  the  pendant  branches  of  the 
trees  on  either  hand  —  now  rushing  past  the  rapids,  that 
here  and  there  seem  anxious  to  interrupt  the  harmony 
of  the  scene.     The  dark  green  foliage  which  crowns  the 
left  bank,  grows  darker  still,  as  the  shadow  of  the  oppo- 
site hill —  almost  a  mountain, — settles  upon  the  river; 
while  the  trees  on  the  other  side,  are  joyously  waving 
their  beautiful  branches  in  the  soft  sunlight,  that  rests 
upon  the  valley  beyond.     On  the  right,  hill  succeeds 
hill  in  gentle  undulation.     Behind,  stretches  the  valley 
of  the  Etowah,  beautiful  in  its  foliage,  attractive  in  its 
graceful  windings,  as  it  bends  ever  to  guard  within  its 
accustomed  channel,  the  stream  that  imparts  its  life  and 
verdure.     Upon  the  adjacent  eminences,  sits  the  village 
of  Home,  replete  with  life  and  activity.    The  stately  trees 
have  fallen  before  the  stroke  of  the  woodsman.     Broad 
bridges   span   the   streams.     The   steamboat,    freighted 
with  the  products  of  intelligent  industry,   stems  their 
currents.     Through  the  echoing  valley  of  the  Etowah, 
are  heard  the  shrill  whistle,  and  the  rapid  march  of  the 
locomotive.    On  every  side  are  seen  the  traces  of  a  new, 
a  superior,  and  an  advancing  civilization. 

How  changed!  since  that  time,  when  the  Mound- 
Builder  fixed  here  his  home,  and  above  the  remains  of 
his  family  and  friends,  heaped  these  memorials  of  his 
sorrows  —  these  tributes  to  the  memory  of  the  daparted. 
The  same  heavens  over-arch  now,  as  they  did  centuries 
long  ago.     The  voices  of  the  streams,  in  subdued  mur- 


86  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

murs,  still  greet  the  ear.  Here  and  there  a  forest  tree? 
rejoicing  in  its  primeval  proportions)  still  bespeaks  the 
stately  growth  of  the  original  groves,  which  crowned 
these  hills  and  over-shadowed  these  fertile  valleys.  All 
else,  how  changed ! 

Ascending  the  valley  of  the  Oostanaula,  we  are  met 
by  tumuli  and  remains,  similar  in  all  respects  to  those 
which  we  have  noticed  in  the  valley  of  the  Etowah. 
We  have  not  learned  however,  of  the  existence  of  any, 
so  remarkable  as  those  located  upon  the  plantation  of 
Col.  Tumlin. 

Some  eight  miles  above  Eome,  in  a  bend  of  the  Oos- 
tanaula Kiver,  known  as  Pope's  Bend,  is  a  mound,  at 
present  some  five  or  six  feet  in  height,  and  eighty  feet 
in  diameter  at  the  base.  It  stands  in  the  middle  of  a 
field,  which  is  said  to  have  been  cleared  and  cultivated 
by  the  Indians.  Circular  in  form,  its  central  portion  is 
considerably  depressed.  In  consequence  of  the  expos- 
ure of  this  tumulus  to  the  immediate  action  of  the  wind 
and  tempest,  and  the  further  fact  of  its  having  been  for 
years  cultivated,  its  present  proportions  do  not  realize 
its  original  size. 

The  walls  of  this  mound,  must  at  first,  have  been 
raised  several  feet  above  its  central  portion.  In  this  re- 
spect, it  seems  quite  unique.  Now  however,  the  outer 
rim  has  an  elevation  of  not  more  than  a  foot  and  a  half, 
or  two  feet.  It  is  composed  entirely  of  the  sand  and 
soil  of  the  valley.     Upon  its  surface,  lay  broken  frag- 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  87 

ments  of  pottery  —  a  stone  axe  —  a  pipe  —  a  soap-stone 
ornament  —  broken  clay  utensils,  and  numerous  frag- 
ments of  human  bones.  This  was,  without  doubt,  a 
burial  mound.  Just  across  the  river,  and  upon  a  neck 
of  land  formed  by  the  confluence  of  Armurchee  Creek 
and  the  Oostanaula,  is  another  of  these  burial  mounds. 
The  surface  of  the  ground  for  several  acres  here,  is  cov- 
ered with  pieces  of  pottery,  and  a  great  variety  of  spear 
and  arrow-heads.  From  this  mound  were  taken,  a  mor- 
tar of  beautiful  proportions  —  pestles  —  stone  axes,  &c. 
We  are  inclined  to  refer  these  last  tumuli,  to  an  Indian 
origin.  Certain  it  is,  that  many  of  the  remains  found 
in  and  about  them,  are  purely  Indian  in  their  character. 
It  will  be  observed  however,  that  the  same  locality 
sometimes,  and  in  fact  not  unfrequently,  indicates  the 
existence  of  remains  peculiar  both  to  the  Mound-Build- 
ing, and  to  a  later  period. 

The  aboriginal  remains  of  these  valleys,  may  be  divi- 
ded into  three  classes. 

I.  Those  which  are  to  be  referred  to  the  Mound- 
Builders —  an  ancient  race  who  possessed  this  region, 
and  who  have  left  behind  them,  remarkable  monuments 
of  their  labor,  and  combined  industry. 

II.  Such  as  are  purely  Indian  in  their  character,  and 
lastly, 

III.  Those,  which  although  the  work  of  the  Indians, 
were  suggested  by,  and  are  the  result  of  their  inter- 
course and  contact  with  the  Whites,  or  Europeans. 


88  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA. 

Those  which  may  be  embraced  under  the  first  head, 
have  been  already  sufficiently  considered. 

It  is  a  well  ascertained  historic  fact,  that  the  Ohero- 
kees  entertained  for  these  valleys  of  the  Etowah  and 
Oostanaula,  an  especial  love  and  attachment  Nor  need 
we  wonder  for  a  moment  at  this.  Upon  the  slopes  of 
the  swelling  hills  —  in  the  dense  forests  which  over-shad- 
owed the  luxuriant  alluvial  bottoms,  —  upon  the  banks 
of  the  swiftly  moving  streams  —  and  by  the  generous 
fountains,  sported  the  fairest  and  fattest  game.  The 
rivers,  and  their  limpid  tributaries,  teemed  with  fish. 
The  cultivated  field  of  maze  brought  forth  an  hundred 
fold.  The  pure  mountain  air,  the  pathless  forest,  the 
broad  valleys,  the  towering  hills,  all  were  invested  with 
a  degree  of  attraction,  known  only  to  the  breast  of  the 
free,  untamed  Indian. 

-Their  national  name  was  derived  from  cheera  —  "fire" 
—  which  was  their  reputed  lower  heaven.  Hence  the 
spelling  Cltceralee,  which  is  adopted  by  Adair,  and  other 
writers  of  his  day. 

The  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  they  are 
reputed  to  have  had  sixty-four  villages  filled  with 
women  and  children,  and  to  have  possessed  not  less 
than  six  thousand  warriors.  Their  towns,  says  Adair, 
wore  always  close  to  some  river  or  creek,  as  there  the 
land  is  commonly  very  level  and  fertile,  on  account  of 
the  frequent  washes  from  the  mountains,  and  the  mois- 
ture it  receives  from  the  waters  which  run  through  their 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  89 

fields.  Such  a  situation  also  enables  them  to  perform 
the  ablutions,  comiected  with  their  religious  worship. 

Now  however,  these  villages  and  settlements  are 
scarcely  remembered.  The  Cherokees  themselves  have 
passed  far  beyond  the  blue  mountains,  and  but  few  and 
frail  are  the  memories,  which  perpetuate  the  recollection 
of  this  interesting  but  unfortunate  race.  In  vain  do  we 
seek  amid  tribes,  who  have  not  advanced  in  civilization 
beyond  the  hunter  state,  for  those  monuments  of  art, 
skill,  and  industry,  which  shall  resist  the  disintegrating 
influences  of  Time,  and  tell  to  succeeding  generations 
the  history  of  the  past.  Occasional  and  unimportant 
are  the  remains,  which  combine  within  themselves,  all 
that  is  left  of  the  power,  the  intelligence,  the  labor,  and 
the  life-history  of  those  who  immediately  preceded  us 
in  the  occupancy  of  this  soil.  Not  unfrequently,  within 
the  rude  grave,  is  contained  the  only  record  that  time 
has  left  to  us  of  this  people. 

From  the  best  authority  it  appears,  that  the  Cherokees 
of  this  region  did  not,  as  a  general  rule,  erect  mounds 
over  their  dead.  The  usual  custom  was,  to  hide  the 
body  in  some  rocky  fissure,  covering  it  with  bark,  de- 
positing with  it  the  bow  and  arrow,  pots,  stone  axe,  and 
other  articles,  the  property  of  the  deceased,  and  then 
close  securely  the  entrance. 

Often  the  hut  of  the  deceased  was  burnt,  and  with  it 

many  articles  used  by  the  late  owner.     Sometimes  they 

interred  beneath  the  floor  of  the  cabin,  subsequently 
12 


90  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

Betting  fire  to  the  walls  and  roof,  thus  obliterating  all 
traces  of  the  inhumation.* 

Again,  they  buried  by  placing  the  body  underneath  a 

ledge  of  rocks,  or  upon  the  slope  of  a  bill  in  some  unfre- 
quented spot,  heaping  above  it  a  pile  of  stones.  Subse- 
quently, they  adopted  the  plan  of  digging  a  grave  some 
three  feet  or  more  in  depth,  into  which  the  corpse  was 
lowered.  Above  it  was  heaped  a  small  tumulus,  some 
six  or  eight  feet  in  length,  and  two  or  three  feet  in 
height.  Upon  the  range  of  hills  running  to  the  south 
of  Rome,  are  several  graves  of  this  latter  description. 
They  lie  north  and  south,  and  are  generally  located  in 
the  vicinity  of  a  large  tree. 

On  the  right  bank  of  the  Etowrah  River,  near  Rome, 
at  a  point  known  as  the  "  Old  Bridge,"  a  heavy  ledge  of 
rocks,  projecting  from  the  side  of  the  hill,  over-hung 
the  river.  It  was  necessary  to  remove  this,  in  order 
to  construct  the  track  of  the  Rome  rail-way.  When 
forced  from  its  position  by  the  blast,  the  fissures  in  the 
ledge,  were  found  filled  with  the  skeletons  of  Indians. 
By  many,  they  were  supposed  to  have  been  the  dead, 
killed  in  a  battle  fought  but  a  short  distance  from  this 
spot,  and  here  secreted  by  those  who  survived. 

Upon  the  hill  opposite  Rome,  known  as  the  "  Ceme- 
tery Hill,"  many  bodies  have  been  discovered  securely- 
lodged  in  the  inequalities  of  the  hill-sides  —  carefully 

*  See  also  History  of  North  America,  p.  260, 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  91 

covered,  and  with  their  utensils  of  the  chase,  of  war, 
and  of  domestic  use,  interred  with  them. 

Scattered  throughout  these  valleys,  there  are  however, 
mounds  of  moderate  dimensions,  circular  or  ovoidal  in 
form,  which  are  doubtless,  to  be  referred  to  an  Indian 
origin.  Judging  from  their  internal  evidence,  we  are 
inclined  to  regard  them  as  the  oldest  organic  remains  of 
the  Cherokees.  Within  them  are  found  the  skeletons  of 
the  dead,  and  various  ornaments,  cooking  utensils,  pipe?, 
implements  of  war,  and  of  the  chase. 

Elevated  spaces,  perfectly  level  at  the  top,  are  still  to 
be  seen.  These  were  formerly  used  by  the  Cherokees 
for  the  purposes  of  sport,  dancing,  ball  playing,  and 
quoit  rolling.  In  one  locality,  not  far  from  the  village 
of  Home,  was  pointed  out  a  track,  some  quarter  of  a 
mile  or  more  in  extent,  from  which  the  loose  stones  and 
inequalities  in  the  surface  had  been  removed,  which  tra- 
dition designates  as  an  Indian  race-course. 

The  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  the  springing  foliage, 
are  however,  fast  obliterating  all  traces  of  their  play 
grounds. 

Ball  playing  is  said  by  Adair  to  have  been  their  chief 
and  most  favorite  game.  To  him  we  are  indebted  for 
the  following  description  of  this  amusement.  The  ball 
was  made  of  a  piece  of  scraped  deer  skin,  moistened, 
and  stuffed  hard  with  deer's  hair,  and  strongly  sewed 
with  deer's  sinews.  The  ball  sticks  were  about  two  feet 
long,  the  lower  end  somewhat  resembling  the  palm  of  a 


92  MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA. 

hand.  They  are  worked  with  deer  skin  thongs.  Be- 
tween these  they  caught  the  ball,  and  were  enabled  to 
throw  it  a  great  distance,  when  not  prevented  by  the 

opposite  party,  whose  effort  it  was  to  intercept  its  pas- 
sage. The  goal  is  some  five  hundred  yards  in  extent. 
At  each  end  of  it,  they  fix  two  long  bendiug  poles  into 
the  ground,  three  yards  apart  below,  but  standing  a  con- 
siderable way  outward  above.  The  party  that  succeeds 
in  throwing  the  ball  over  these,  counts  one ;  but  if  it 
be  thrown  underneath,  it  is  cast  back,  and  played  for  as 
usual.  The  gamesters  are  equal  in  number  on  both 
sides;  and  at  the  beginning  of  every  course  of  the  ball, 
they  throw  it  up  high  in  the  centre  of  the  ground,  and 
in  a  direct  line  between  the  two  goals.  When  the  crowd 
of  players  prevents  the  one  who  catches  the  ball  from 
throwing  it  off  with  a  long  direction,  he  commonly  sends 
it  the  right  course,  by  an  artful,  sharp  twirl.  They  are 
so  exceedingly  expert  in  this  manly  exercise,  that  be- 
tween the  goals,  the  ball  is  mostly  flying  the  different 
ways,  by  the  force  of  the  playing  sticks,  without  falling 
to  the  ground ;  for  they  are  not  allowed  to  catch  it  with 
their  hands.  In  the  heat  and  intense  excitement  of  the 
game,  the  arms  and  legs  of  the  players  are  sometimes 
broken.  The  celebration  of  this  game,  is  preceded  by 
fastings  and  night  watches,  by  those  who  are  about  to 
engage  in  it. 

They   turn   out   to   the    ball-ground,   continues   Mr. 
Adair,  in  a  long  row,  painted  white,  and  whooping  as 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  93 

if  Plato's  prisoners  were  all  broke  loose.  The  leader 
then  begins  a  religious  invocation,  which  is  joined  in  by 
his  companions.  Each  party  strives  to  gain  the  twentieth 
ball,  which  they  esteem  a  favorite  divine  gift. 

These  play  grounds  now  lie  deserted.  The  animated 
voices  of  the  gamesters  are  hushed.  Ball,  bat,  and  the 
stalwart  forms  that  contended  for  the  victor}',  lie  moul- 
dering in  silence  and  forgetfulness  beneath  a  common 
sod ;  and  a  modern  civilization  has  devoted  to  the  pur- 
poses of  agriculture,  places  once  consecrated  to  sport. 

Large  clearings  are  still  pointed  out,  which  were  culti- 
vated by  the  Chcrokees.  Corn  was  the  principal  agri- 
cultural product.  To  the  women  chiefly,  was  committed 
the  care  of  the  fields. 

All  traces  of  their  dwellings  have  of  course,  disap- 
peared, with  the  exception  of  some  of  the  more  modern 
dwellings,  —  such  as  the  ruins  of  the  house  formerly 
occupied  by  the  Chief  John  Eoss,  beautifully  situated 
upon  a  gentle  elevation,  upon  the  edge  of  the  Coosa 
Valley,  near  the  inception  of  that  river,  —  and  the  for- 
mer residence  of  Major  Eiclge,  which  still  remains  in 
good  preservation  upon  the  left  bank  of  the  Oostanaula 
River,  some  two  miles  from  Rome.  These  however,  are 
modern  in  their  character,  and  belong  not  to  the  Indian, 
as  he  existed  in  his  native,  uncontaminatecl  condition  — 
but  to  the  semi-civilized  Indian,  as  modified  in  his 
tastes,  habits,  and  character,  by  association  with  the 
"White  race. 


9±  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OP  GEORGIA. 

Of  their  pottery,  very  few  specimens  remain  un- 
broken. If  we  may  judge  however,  from  the  various 
fragments  —  some  of  them  quite  large,  — and  from  the 
few  relics  of  this  description,  in  an  almost  perfect  con- 
dition, which  have  conic  under  our  observation,  we  can 
readily  award  to  the  Cherokees,  no  little  skill  and  inge- 
nuity in  the  manufacture  of  their  pots  —  pans  —  vases 
—  bowls  —  platters  —  and  various  vessels  of  antiquated 
form.  Some  of  them  are  well  glazed  within.  Others, 
on  the  outside,  bear  the  impression  of  marks  or  stamps, 
made  when  the  material  was  in  a  soft  condition.  Others 
still,  have  ornamented  rims,  and  are  furnished  with 
handles. 

Ked  and  blue  clay  appear  to  have  been  the  principal 
materials  used.  In  many  instances,  everything  like 
gravel  or  sand  has  been  carefully  removed.  In  others, 
large  gravel  appears  to  have  been  intentionally  inter- 
mixed with  the  clay.  We  have  examined  vases  and 
pans,  which  seem  to  be  composed  of  an  admixture  of 
blue  clay,  and  crushed  muscle  shells. 

The  impressions  upon  the  outside  of  the  pottery,  are 
said  usually  to  have  been  made  by  a  wooden  paddle, 
upon  which  had  been  traced  certain  figures,  or  patterns. 
The  newly  formed,  and  still  soft  pot  or  vase,  was  gently 
struck,  time  and  again,  with  this  paddle,  until  its  sides 
were  completely  covered  with  the  desired  impressions ; 
the  line  grooved  into  the  paddle,  leaving  of  course  a 
corresponding  elevation  upon  the  pottery,  while  the  ele- 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS  OF   GEORGIA.  95 

vated  work  upon  the  former,  caused  a  corresponding 
depression  upon  the  latter.  The  vessel,  thus  impressed 
with  such  devices  as  fancy  or  ingenuity  might  suggest, 
in  a  still  soft  state,  was  then  inverted  over  burning  coals 
of  hickory  or  oak  —  piled  up  so  as  very  nearly  to  fill 
the  inner  space  of  the  article,  —and  thus  subjected  to 
as  great  a  degree  of  heat  as  could  thereby  be  obtained  ; 
the  bed  of  coals  being  at  intervals  replenished,  and  so 
arranged  in  a  conical  form,  as  to  distribute  the  heat  as 
equally  as  possible.  So  intense  at  times  was  this  heat, 
that  the  entire  vessel  glowed ;  and  almost  a  fusion  of 
the  particles  on  the  inner  side  of  the  vessel  occurred. 
"When  sufficiently  burnt,  it  was  allowed  to  cool  gradu- 
ally—  retaining  in  its  hardened  condition,  the  impres- 
sions which  had  been  made  with  the  paddle  upon  its 
formerly  soft  and  plastic  surface.  The  countless  frag- 
ments of  this  pottery,  mingled  with  the  leaves  of  the 
forest,  and  lying  exposed  in  every  field,  assure  us  of  the 
fact,  that  these  regions  were  long  and  thickly  peopled. 
It  is  also  evident,  that  vast  quantities  of  pottery,  of 
varied  form,  must  have  been  here  manufactured.  "When 
we  reflect  upon  the  frail,  perishable  character  of  these 
utensils,  we  may  very  readily  appreciate  how  often  in 
daily  use  they  must  have  been  broken. 

Kough  beads,  and  rude  ornaments,  were  also  fashioned 
of  like  material. 

Stone  axes  are  still  found  —  many  of  them  remarka- 
ble for  their  beauty  and  symmetry.  Of  these  there  are 
three  varieties. 


96  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS    OF   GEORC.IA. 

I.  The  ungrooved  axe  —  cunieform. 

II.  The  axe  with  single  or  double  groove. 

III.  The  double-edged  axe,  with  a  hole  neatly  drilled 
through  the  centre. 

The  manufacture  of  these  implements,  accomplished 
(in  the  absence  of  tools  requisite  for  working  in  stone), 
only  b}'  protracted  labor,  must  have  been  abandoned  by 
the  Indians  at  an  early  period  of  our  acquaintance  with 
them.  The  probability  is,  that  almost  all  of  the  speci- 
mens which  we  now  obtain,  were  made  before  their  con- 
tact with  the  Whites ;  and  consist  principally,  of  such  as 
had  been  accidental^  lost  in  the  forests  by  the  Indians, 
casually  forgotten  by  them  in  their  frequent  changes 
of  abode,  or  of  such,  as  exposed  by  the  action  of  the 
seasons,  have  been  removed  from  the  once  hidden 
places,  where  they  had  been  interred  with  the  bones  of 
their  former  owners. 

Says  Adair:  "The  Indians  formerly  had  stone  axes,' 
which  in  form  commonly  resembled  a  smith's  chisel. 
Each  weighed  from  one  to  two  or  three  pounds."  [We 
have  now  in  our  collection,  a  double  grooved  stone  axe, 
of  unusual  proportions,  weighing  nearly  ten  pounds.] 
u  They  were  made  of  a  flinty  kind  of  stone.  I  have  seen 
several  which  chanced  to  escape  being  buried  with  their 
owners,  and  were  carefully  preserved  by  the  old  people 
as  respectable  remains  of  antiquity.  They  twisted  two 
or  three  tough  hickory  slips,  of  about  two  feet  long, 
round  the  notched  head  of  the  axe ;  and  by  means  of 
this  simple  and  obvious  invention,  they  deadened  the 


MONUMENTAL   KEMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  97 

trees,  by  cutting  through  the  bark,  and  burned  them, 
when  they  either  fell  by  decay,  or  became  thoroughly 
dry." 

In  this  manner,  in  process  of  time,  convenient  fields 
were  cleared.  Another  use  made  of  these  stone  axes 
was,  with  their  aid,  in  preparing  their  canoes  (which 
were  hollowed  out  chiefly  through  the  agency  of  fire),  to 
peck  off  the  charred  portions  from  time  to  time,  as  the 
burning  progressed,  and  thus  afford  new  surface,  and 
fresh  fuel  for  the  flame.  When  eugaged  in  this  occupa- 
tion, they  are  said  to  have  stood  with  their  backs  to  the 
burning  log,  and  looking  over  the  shoulder  —  the  axe 
being  attached  to  the  end  of  a  pliant  bough  or  vine,  — 
to  have  swung  it  against  the  charred  surface. 

Still  another  use:  the  smaller  axes,  especially  those 
with  holes  drilled  through  them,  were  employed  as 
weapons  of  war.  A  most  beautiful  specimen  of  this 
description  came  under  our  personal  observation.  It 
was  made  of  silex,  well  polished,  a  hole  neatly  drilled 
through  the  centre  —  one  end  being  fashioned  into  a 
pipe  —  the  other  into  a  sharp  edged  axe.  There  is  also 
the  double-edged  battle  axe,  or  tomahawk. 

Others  there  are,  without  drill  or  groove,  nearly  re- 
sembling pestles  at  the  smaller  end,  which  answered  a 
double  purpose  of  axe  and  pestle.  From  the  rernarka* 
ble  degree  of  polish,  and  the  peculiar  shape  of  still 
another  variety,  the  idea  is  suggested,  that  these  were 
used  in  the  preparation  of  their  skins. 
13 


98  MONUMENTAL   BEMAINS   OF  GEOKGIA. 

Rude  stone  knives,  and  polishing  stones,  are  also 
here  found. 

Xot  unfrequently  arc  seen  circular  stones,  probably 
employed  in  grinding  clay,  and  other  substances  for 
paint.  What  may  be  denominated  hurling  stones,  al- 
though rare,  are  picked  up  here  and  there,  generally  in 
the  neighborhood  of  one  of  the  former  settlements  of 
the  Cherokees.  The  account  which  we  have  of  the  use 
of  this  article  of  sport,  is  briefly  as  follows : 

Near  the  principal  house  in  the  settlement,  the  Indi- 
ans prepared  a  square  piece  of  ground,  well  cleaned. 
Fine  sand  is  carefully  scattered  over  the  surface,  so  that 
the  motion  of  anything  rolled  along  the  ground,  may 
be  impeded  as  little  as  possible.  Only  one  or  two  on  a 
side  play  at  this  ancient  game.  The  stone  used,  is  per- 
fectly round  —  about  two  lingers  broad  at  the  edge,  and 
two  spans  in  circumference.  The  size  of  the  stone 
varies  however  in  thickness,  from  ^a  half  inch,  to  an 
inch  or  more,  with  diameters  ranging  from  two  to  six 
inches.  Each  party  playing,  has  a  pole  about  eight  feet 
long,  smooth,  and  tapering  at  each  end  —  the  points  flat. 
The  players  sit  off  abreast  of  each  other,  at  six  yards 
distance  from  the  end  of  the  play  ground.  One  of  them 
hurls  the  stone  on  its  edge,  in  as  direct  a  line  as  he  can, 
a  considerable  distance  toward  the  middle  of  the  other 
end  of  the  square.  Running  after  the  stone  a  few  yards, 
each  darts  his  pole  —  anointed  with  bear's  greese,  — 
with  a  proper  force,  as  near  as  he  can  calculate,  in  pro* 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  99 

portion  to  the  motion  of  the  stone,  in  order  that  the  end 
of  the  pole  may  lie  near  to  the  stone  when  it  ceases  its 
motion.  When  the  end  of  the  pole  lies  close  by  the 
stone,  the  thrower  counts  two  of  the  game ;  and  in  pro- 
portion to  the  nearness  of  the  pole  to  the  mark,  one  is 
counted.  In  this  manner  the  players  will  run  inces- 
santly at  half  speed  the.  greater  part  of  the  day,  under 
the  violent  heat  of  the  sun,  manifesting  the  most  untir- 
ing interest  in  the  game,  and  staking  their  ornaments, 
property  of  every  description,  and  even  their  wearing 
apparel,  upon  its  event. 

These  hurling  stones  are  prepared  with  great  labor 
and  care,  being  rubbed  smooth  in  every  part.  They 
are  preserved  from  one  generation  to  another,  and  are 
exempted  from  being  buried  with  the  dead.  Considered 
as  public  property,  each  town  or  village  possesses  its 
own  hurling  stones. 

Pipes,  both  of  stone  and  of  clay,  are  still  found  in 
these  valleys;  —  those  of  the  former  material,  not  un- 
frequently  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation,  while  those 
of  the  latter,  are  usually  somewhat  impaired  by  the 
action  of  the  changing  seasons.  Mr.  Adair  says,  that  of 
all  the  Indians,  the  Cherokees  excelled  in  the  manu- 
facture of  beautiful  stone  pipes ;  and  assigns  as  one  rea- 
son for  this,  that  their  country,  —  mountainous  in  its 
character,  —  afforded  an  unusual  variety  of  materials 
proper  for  such  uses.  Speaking  of  the  manufacture  of 
these  pipes,  he  continues:   "They  easily  form  them  with 


100  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

their  tomahawks,  and  afterwards  finish  them  in  any 
desired  form  with  their  knives;  —  the  pipes  (7.  e.,  those 
made  of  clay,  and  some  varieties  of  soap-stone,)  being 
of  a  very  soft  quality,  till  they  are  smoked  with,  and 
used  to  the  lire,  when  they  become  quite  hard.  They 
are  often  a  full  span  long,  and  the  bowls  are  about  half 
as  large  again  as  those  of  our  English  pipes.  The  fore 
part  of  each,  commonly  runs  out  with  a  sharp  peak  two 
or  three  fingers  broad,  and  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick. 
On  both  sides  of  the  bowl  lengthwise,  the}'  cut  several 
pictures  with  a  great  deal  of  skill  and  labor ;  such  as 
a  buffalo  and  a  panther ;  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
bowl,  a  rabbit  and  a  fox,  and  very  often  a  man  and  a 
woman,  rpuris  naturalibus.  Their  sculpture  cannot  much 
be  commended  for  its  modesty.  They  work  so  slowly, 
that  one  of  these  artists  is  two  months  at  a  pipe  with 
his  knife,  before  he  finishes  it :  indeed,  as  before  ob- 
served, they  are  great  enemies  to  profuse  sweating,  and 
are  never  in  a  hurry  about  a  good  thing.  The  stems 
are  commonly  made  of  soft  wrood,  about  two  feet  long, 
and  an  inch  thick,  cut  into  four  squares,  each  scooped 
till  the}T  join  very  near  the  hollow  of  the  stem;  the 
beaus  always  hollow  the  squares,  except  a  little  at  each 
corner,  to  hold  them  together,  to  which  they  fasten  a 
parcel  of  bell  buttons,  different  sorts  of  fine  feathers,  and 
several  small  battered  pieces  of  copper  kettles,  round 
deer-skin  thongs,  and  a  red  painted  scalp ;  this  is  a  boast- 
ing, valuable  and  superlative  ornament.    According  to 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  101 

their  standard,  such  a  pipe  constitutes  the  possessor  a 
grand  beau.  They  so  accurately  carve  or  paint  hiero- 
glyphic characters  on  the  stem,  that  all  the  war-'actions, 
and  the  tribe  of  the  owner,  with  a  great  many  circum- 
stances of  things  are  fully  delineated." 

When  we  remember  in  what  esteem  this  article  was 
held  by  the  Cherokee  —  in  ordinary  times,  his  compan- 
ion around  the  lodge-fire,  and  upon  his  march  —  never 
forgotten  either  at  home,  or  abroad,  —  when  we  recollect 
the  historic  memories  which  cluster  around  the  Pipe  of 
Peace  —  and  think  of  the  solemnities  attendant  upon  its 
use,  when  war  was  to  be  declared,  when  compacts  were 
to  be  entered  into,  and,  when  the  battle  was  over,  as  its 
graceful  curl,  denoting  that  peace  had  again  spread  her 
white  wings  over  the  land,  ascended  from  the  midst  of 
the  assembled  braves,  —  a  peculiar  interest  attaches  to 
these  relics  of  a  past  race.  The  many  fragments  of  the 
ordinary  red  or  blue  clay  pipe,  and  of  the  soap-stone 
pipe,  attest  their  general  use. 

Of  all  the  remains  still  extant,  by  far  the  most  nu- 
merous are  the  spear  and  arrow  heads.  Of  these  there 
are  sundry  varieties,  all  modifications  however,  of  one 
general  idea.  They  lie  scattered  in  every  field  —  are 
disclosed  by  the  careless  foot  of  the  pedestrian,  as  it 
brushes  aside  the  fallen  leaves  of  the  forest  —  are 
washed  from  the  road-sides  by  every  passing  shower, 
and  are  seen  in  nearly  every  grave.  They  vary  in 
length,  from  the  half  of  an  inch,  to  ten  or  twelve  inches; 


102  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OP   GEORGIA. 

and  in  breadth,  from  the  quarter  of  an  inch  to  four 
inches ;  one  huge  specimen  is  before  us,  measuring  four- 
teen inches  in  length,  and  four  inches  in  breadth.  Silex 
was  a  favorite  material  used  in  the  construction  of  these 
implements  of  war  and  of  the  chase.  They  are  in  color 
red,  yellow,  white,  rufus,  black,  blue,  and  parti-colored. 
Great  stress  appears  often  to  have  been  laid  upon  the 
selection  of  a  unique  stone.  In  not  a  few  localities,  the 
black  'darts  predominate.  That  they  were  here  manu- 
factured, is  clearly  proven  by  the  countless  chips,  lying 
intermingled  with  broken  spear  and  arrow  heads,  re- 
jected in  the  process  of  construction. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  that  this  manufacture  of  darts 
and  arrow  points,  was  common  to  all  the  tribes  of  the 
American  Indians,  and  that  they  all  coincide  in  form 
and  size.  Intermingle,  for  example,  a  number  of  spear 
and  arrow  heads  picked  up  in  these  valleys,  with  an 
equal  number  collected  at  random  from  the  mounds,  or 
in  the  fields  of  the  coast  regions  of  Georgia  or  South 
Carolina,  and  you  will  be  unable  to  distinguish  between 
them.  It  is  probable  that  large  quantities  manufactured 
here,  where  materials  for  their  construction  abound, 
were  carried  to  the  coast,  and  there  exchanged  for  com- 
modities, which  could  not  in  this  region  be  readily  ob- 
tained. There  is  an  interesting  tradition  still  extant  to 
this  effect. 

It  will  be  remarked  however,  by  any  one  at  all  con- 
versant with  the  antiquities  of  Southern  Georgia,  that 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  103 

the  Tribes  who  there  inhabited,  did;  to  a  certain  extent 
at  least,  manufacture  their  own  spear  and  arrow  heads. 
Of  this,  the  physical  proof  is  positive  and  abundant. 

A  description  of  the  fleshing  knives  —  soap-stone  or- 
naments—  beads  —  pestles — and  other  trivial  remains 
which  lie  scattered  upon  the  surface,  is  deemed  useless, 
as  they  are  really  possessed  of  but  little  interest,  and 
have  been  noticed  by  others. 

We  shall  conclude  this  enumeration  of  the  Indian 
remains,  with  the  mere  mention  of  a  beautiful  mortar, 
which  was  exhumed  from  a  small  earth  mound  upon 
the  left  bank  of  the  Oostanaula  Kiver,  some  nine  miles 
above  the  village  of  Rome.  It  is  composed  of  a  very 
compact,  yellow  stone,  capable  of  receiving  quite  a  de- 
gree of  polish,  and  hard  to  be  worked  —  possessing  a 
diameter  of  nearly  six  inches  —  and  a  thickness  at  the 
edges,  of  two  inches  and  three  quarters.  It  has  two 
cavities  —  each  four  inches  in  diameter,  and  one  inch 
in  depth  —  the  central  portion  of  the  mortar  lying  be- 
tween the  convex,  and  concave  hollowed  surfaces  — 
being  only  three  quarters  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  In 
form,  it  is  accurately  circular,  everything  about  it  indi- 
cating great  neatness  of  construction,  and  remarkable 
symmetry. 

We  have  designated  as  a  third  class,  those  remains, 
which,  although  fashioned  by  the  Indians,  are  yet  the 
offsprings  of  wants,  and  the  results  of  suggestions,  evi- 
dently derived  from  their  association  with  the  White  race. 


10-i  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF  GEORGIA. 

As  an  illustration  of  this,  we  may  refer  to  a  bullet- 
mould  made  of  soap-stone,  capable  of  answering  well 
the  purposes  for  which  it  was  intended.  It  was  found 
among  other  articles,  in  the  grave  of  an  Indian.  This 
mould  has  thirteen  chambers,  varying  in  size,  from  that 
of  an  ounce-ball,  to  that  of  swan-shot. 

We  will  not  pause  to  enumerate  the  various  remains, 
of  clearly  European  origin,  which  are  not  unfrequentlv 
disclosed  upon  an  examination  of  the  later  graves. 
These, — if  antiquities  they  may  be  called, — belong  to 
a  more  recent  period;  a  period  about  which,  the  clouds 
of  uncertainty  and  conjecture  gather  not. 

So  much  for  the  remains  of  the  valleys  of  the  Eto- 
wah and  the  Oostanaula,  and  a  glance  at  the  interesting 
suggestions,  which  attend  upon  their  examination.  Few 
and  short  were  the  days  given  to  their  consideration  ; 
but  the  recollection  of  the  pleasure  experienced  upon 
first  sight  of  those  august  monuments,  which  tower 
above  the  level  of  the  Etowah  Valley  —  silent,  yet  not 
voiceless  representatives  of  a  past  age,  of  a  lost  race,  — 
still  lives,  and  is  only  equalled  by  the  vivid  remem- 
brances of  the  beautiful  hills  which  environ,  and  the 
attractive  streams  which  water  this  favored  region. 


lUmaitw  foinul  mm  tht  onuili, 


AND    WITHIN   THE    ENCLOSURE. 


gntm)  1)2  %  Ural  a  q  g,  anb  %  dftotoa|  Pot. 


Wui  0f  iU 


I.  Pipe  —  fashioned  of  a  species  of  green  stone 
almost  equal  to  Egyptian  granite,  —  three  and  a  half 
inches  in  height ;  consisting  of  a  human  figure  in  a  sit- 
ting posture,  holding  in  extended  arms,  quite  a  classic 
urn,  which  constitutes  the  bowl.  This  urn-shaped  bowl 
is  two  inches  in  diameter,  with  ornamented  rim,  and 
unique  handles. 

The  countenance  of  the  figure,  is  clearly  not  Indian 
in  a  single  feature.  The  head  is  thrown  back,  and  the 
uplifted  eyes  seem  resting  upon  some  superior,  unseen, 
yet  adorable  divinity.  The  chiselled  hair  upon  the 
front,  is  gathered  upon  the  top  in  a  fold ;  and  thence 
flowing  backwards,  is  confined  behind  in  a  knot.  Ears 
prominent. 

The  careful  observer  of  this  interesting  specimen  of 
the  handiwork  of  the  Mound-Builders,  cannot  but  ad- 
mire the  skill  with  which  it  has  been  fashioned.  Unique 
in  all  its  parts,  there  is  that  about  this  idol-pipe,  which 
impresses  you  with  the  idea,  that  it  was  intended  as  a 
direct  representation  of  a  custom  of  offering  incense  to 
their  Gods,  which  may,  and  probably  did  obtain  with 
that  ancient  race,  which  centuries  ago  possessed  these 


108  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

beautiful  valleys.  The  upturned  face,  —  the  expression 
of  reverential  awe  emphatically  traced  upon  every  linea- 
ment of  the  countenance  —  the  extended  arms,  uplifting 
the  sacred  symbol  of  worship, — all  indicate  the  attempt 
to  perpetuate,  in  the  form  of  this  article  of  daily  use, 
the  recollection,  of  perchance,  a  well-established  reli- 
gious rite. 

Not  more  surely  does  the  water  lily  remind  of  fallen 
Persepolis,  or  the  crisp  acanthus,  bespeak  its  Attic  origin, 
than  does  this  interesting  specimen  of  the  workmanship 
of  the  ancients,  tell  us  at  once  of  their  skill,  and  of  the 
religious  rite  of  that  people,  by  whom  it  was  fashioned 
and  used. 

II.  Stone  Pipe, — four  and  one  quarter  inches  in 
height,  similar  in  design  to  the  first,  but  ruder  in  its 
construction. 

Human  figure  in  sitting  posture  —  upturned  face  — 
extended  arms  —  in  hands  holding  bowl  of  pipe.  Idea 
conveyed,  precisely  the  same  as  that  suggested  by  the 
pipe  first  described. 

III.  Clay  Pipes,  —  some  perfectly  plain,  others  with 
rude  impressions  upon  the  outside,  and  scalloped  rims. 
Probably  of  Indian  origin.  Bowl  at  right  angles  with 
the  stem  —  some  of  baked,  others  of  sun-dried  clay. 

IV.  Stone  Idol.  —  This  interesting  relic,  made  of  a 
coarse,  dark  sand-stone,  is  twelve  inches  in  height.  It 
consists  of  a  human  figure  in  a  sitting  posture,  the  knees 
drawn  up,  almost  upon  a  level  with  the  chin,  the  hands 


MONUMENTAL  REMAINS  OF  GEORGIA.  109 

resting  upon  either  knee.  Retreating  chin  and  forehead 
—  full  head  of  hair,  gathered  into  a  knot  behind  —  face 
upturned  —  eyes  angular.  Not  a  single  feature,  not  a 
single  idea  connected  with  this  image,  is  Indian  in  its 
character.  Everything  about  it — the  place  where  it  was 
exhumed  —  its  internal  evidence  —  all  suggest  the  belief, 
that  it  must  have  been  fashioned  by  the  ancient  Mound  • 
Builders.  That  this  idol  is  not  Indian  in  its  origin, 
appears  evident  from  the  following,  among  other  con- 
siderations: 

(a)  The  retreating  forehead  and  chin. 

(b)  The  full  head  of  hair,  gathered  into  a  tuft  or  knot 
behind. 

(c)  The  Indians  of  this  region  never  were  Idol- wor- 
shippers. 

(d)  The  traditions  of  the  Cherokees,  while  they  do 
not  even  name  the  race  by  whom  these  remains  were 
constructed,  nevertheless  distinctly  disclaim  the  idea, 
that  they  were  ever  made  by  the  Indians;  and  refer 
them  to  the  possession  of,  and  use  by  a  people  in  ages 
long  since  past,  who  inhabited  these  beautiful  valleys, 
and  rich  alluvial  bottoms,  building  here  their  immense 
tumuli  for  the  purposes  of  worship  and  defense,  and 
who  had  deserted  these  regions,  before  ever  the  Chero- 
kees chanced  upon  an  occupancy  of  them. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  that  the  Cherokees  never  were 
Idol-worshippers.  The  same  remark  is  applicable  to 
nearly  all  the  Tribes  of  North  America.     Recognizing . 


110  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS    OF    GEORGIA. 

the  existence,  and   the  omnipresence  of  an  unseen  yet 
omnipotent  Deity,  they  did  not  deem  it  consistent  with 
the  magnitude  and  grandeur  of  that  God,  to  attempt  to 
con  line  him  within  rude  temples,  the  work  of  their  own 
hands ;  nor  did  it  comport  with  their  exalted  ideas  of 
his  majestic  being,  and  the  proper  homage  to  be  ren- 
dered, that  they  should  liken  his  image  to  that  of  man, 
beast,  bird,  or  living  creature,  and  bow  before  the  sense- 
less clay  or  stone.     With  them,  the  great,  beneficent, 
supreme,  holy  spirit  of  Fire,  although  residing  above  the 
clouds,   still   communed   with   unpolluted   men.     They 
heard  his  tones  of  anger,  in  the  crashing  notes  of  the 
thunder-storm  ;   listened  to  his  tender  words  of  love  and 
mercy,  as  whispered  by  the  soft  airs  of  spring;  implored 
his   health -giving   influences   in  behalf  of  the   disease 
stricken  and  the  infirm  ;  from  Him,  directty  invoked  the 
refreshing  showers  of  summer  upon  the  thirsty  fields  of 
maize ;    by  daily  fastings,  and  night  watches,  endeav- 
ored to  secure  His  interposition  in  their  behalf,  in  the 
anticipated  battle,  and  looked  up  to  Him   as  the  sole 
author  of  warmth,  light,  and  of  all  animal  and  vegeta- 
ble life. 

James  Adair,  whose  opportunities  for  observation 
were  probably  surpassed  b}r  none,  writes  as  follows  :* 
"They  (7.  e.,  the  Indians)  do  not  pay  the  least  perceiv- 
able adoration  to  any  images,  or  to  dead  persons;  neith- 

*  Adair's  History  of  the  American  Indians,  pp.  10  and  '22. 


MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  Ill 

er  to  the  celestial  luminaries,  nor  evil  spirits,  nor  any 
created  being  whatever.  They  are  utter  strangers  to  all 
the  gestures  practiced  by  the  Pagans  in  their  religious 
rites.  They  kiss  no  idols,  nor  if  they  were  placed  out 
of  their  reach,  would  they  kiss  their  hands,  in  token  of 
reverence,  and  a  willing  obedience.,' 

Again:  "They  pay  no  religious  worship  to  stocks. 
or  stones,  after  the  manner  of  the  old  eastern  Pagans  ; 
neither  do  they  worship  any  kind  of  images  whatso- 
ever." 

Speaking  of  the  Cherokees,  William  Bartram  says :  * 
"These  Indians  are  by  no  means  idolaters,  unless  their 
puffing  the  tobacco  smoke  towards  the  sun,  and  rejoic- 
ing at  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon,  may  be  termed 
so.  So  far  from  idolatry  are  they,  that  they  leave  no  im- 
ages amongst  them,  nor  any  religious  rite  or  ceremony 
that  I  could  perceive ;  but  adore  the  Great  Spirit,  the 
giver  and  taker  away  of  the  breath  of  life,  with  the 
most  profound  and  respectful  homage.  They  believe  in 
a  future  state,  where  the  spirit  exists,  which  they  call  the 
world  of  spirits,  where  they  enjoy  different  degrees  of 
tranquility  or  comfort,  agreeabty  to  their  life  spent 
here ;  a  person  who  in  his  life  has  been  an  industrious 
hunter,  provided  well  for  his  family,  an  intrepid  and 
active  warrior,  just,  upright,  and  has  done  all  the  good 
he  could,  will,  they  say,  in  the  world  of  spirits,  live  in 

*  Bartram's  Travels,  pp.  495.  496. 


112  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

a  warm,  pleasant  country,  where  are  expansive,  greenr 
flowery  savannas,  and  high  forests,  watered  with  rivers 
of  pure  waters,  replenished  with  deer,  and  every  species 
of  game  —  a  serene,  unclouded  and  peaceful  sky;  in 
short  —  where  there  is  fullness  of  pleasure,  uninter- 
rupted. " 

With  such  testimony,  supported  as  it  is  by  strong  cor- 
roborating proofs,  and  the  concurrent  recorded  observa- 
tions of  others,  which  might  be  adduced,  were  it  neces- 
sary—  from  the  well  ascertained  traditions  of  the  Chero- 
kees  themselves*  to  the  effect,  that  they  were  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  the  race  by  which,  and  of  the  pur- 
poses for  which  these  tumuli  were  raised,  these  relics, 
found  within  and  around  them,  made  —  that  they  were 
all  in  the  same  condition  in  which  they  now  appear, 
when  their  forefathers,  arriving  from  the  West,  pos- 
sessed themselves  of  the  country  —  having  first  van- 
quished the  nations  of  red  men  who  then  inhabited  it, 
who  themselves  found  these  mounds  and  other  remains 
when  they  first  occupied  this  region  —  the  former  pos- 
sessors of  the  soil,  handing  down  the  same  tradition  with 
respect  to  these  monumental  remains  —  from  the  inter- 
nal evidence  of  the  Idol  itself,  as  indicated  more  partic- 
ularly by  its  posture  —  the  method  in  which  the  hair 
upon  the  head  is  disposed  —  by  the  retreating  forehead 
and  chin,  and  by  every  feature  and  expression  of  the 

*  See  Travels  of  William  Bartram,  pp.  265,  266. 


MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  118 

countenance,  —  the  conclusion  becomes  irresistible,  that 
this  remain  is  to  be  referred  directly  to  the  Mound-Build- 
ers, and  should  not  be  regarded  in  any  respect  as  an 
Indian  relic. 

Although  robbed  of  that  sanctity  and  veneration, 
which  the  superstition  and  ignorance  of  the  past  had 
thrown  around  it,  this  rude  image  is  still  possessed  of 
no  ordinary  interest  and  historic  attraction.  A  small 
stone  idol  out-lives,  not  only  the  generation  by  whom  it 
was  fashioned  and  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  a  God,  but 
survives  the  rise  and  fall  of  many  nations ;  still  preserv- 
ing those  characteristics  of  form  and  expression,  which 
were  at  first  traced  by  the  hand  of  semi-civilized  art, 
upon  the  shapeless  stone ;  still  confirming  the  past  exis- 
tence of  a  people,  whose  name  and  origin  can  only  be 
conjectured,  whose  history  is  here  perpetuated  only  by 
a  few  scattered  organic  remains,  which  have  escaped  the 
ravages  of  time,  and  lie  uncrushed  by  the  advancing 
tread  of  civilization. 

The  religious  festivals  celebrated  in  its  honor,  are  no 
longer  renewed.  The  sacred  chant,  years  ago  died  out 
amid  the  solitudes  of  these  forests.  The  worshippers 
themselves,  nameless  and  forgotten,  are  seen  no  more; 
and  this  idol,  once  the  object  of  so  much  regard,  once 
invested  with  such  god-like  attributes,  neglected  by 
those  in  whose  behalf  its  magic  power  and  protection 
had  been  so  often,  and  so  humbly  invoked,  has  lain  for 
centuries,  uncared  for  and  alone,  in  the  damp,  dark 
15 


114  MONUMENTAL    REMAINS    OF   GEORGIA. 

shades  of  the  woods,  —  exposed  to  the  merciless  influ- 
ences of  the  storm  —  covered  by  the  fallen  leaves  of 
Autumn — the  stool  of  the  toad  —  trod  upon  by  the 
wild  animal  in  its  daily  pasture,  and  exciting  only  a 
momentary  curiosity  in  the  breast  <>f  the  savage  hunter, 
as  perchance,  in  after  years,  his  unguarded  footstep  re- 
moved the  decaying  mould  which  gathered  about  it. 

Awakened  at  length  from  its  sleep  of  ages,  by  the 
industrious  plough-share  of  the  husbandman,  it  stands 
now  amid  a  new  race,  in  a  new  civilization,  shorn  it  is 
true  of  its  original  attractions,  but  dear  to  the  student 
of  antiquity  —  a  precious  relic,  —  a  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  present,  and  an  almost  unknown  past — a 
striking  commentary  upon  the  fading  memory  of  man, 
a  sad  proof  of  the  lamentable  ignorance,  and  supersti- 
tion, which  must  have  characterized  the  people,  who 
invested  its  dull,  cold,  inanimate  form,  with  the  essence 
and  the  attributes  of  Deity. 

V.  Stone  Plate.  —  This  unusual  remain  is  circular 
in  form,  with  a  diameter  of  eleven  inches  and  a  half; 
scalloped  edges,  two  circular  depressed  rings,  between 
scalloped  edge  and  central  portion  of  the  plate.  The 
central  portion  has  been  hollowed  out  to  the  depth  of 
the  eighth  of  one  inch  —  diameter  of  this  central  hol- 
lowed portion  eight  inches  —  thus  leaving  a  margin,  or 
rim  on  the  outside,  of  the  uniform  width  of  a  little  less 
than  two  inches.  Thickness  of  plate,  one  inch  and  a 
quarter.     The  stone  of  which  this  plate  is  made,  is  of  a 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  115 

sea-green  color  —  close  in  its  texture,  and  appears  some- 
what discolored  by  dark  red  spots.  Weight  —  nearly 
seven  pounds. 

The  use  of  this  relic  can  only  be  conjectured.  It 
appears  improbable  that  it  was  ever  employed  as  an 
article  for  domestic  or  culinary  purposes.  Its  weight, 
the  care  bestowed  upon  its  construction,  and  the  length 
of  time  necessarily  consumed  in  its  manufacture,  seem- 
ingly preclude  the  idea,  that  it  was  intended  simply  as 
an  ordinary  plate,  from  which  the  daily  meal  should  be 
eaten.  We  incline  to  the  belief,  that  this  was  a  conse- 
crated vessel,  in  which  was  exposed  the  food  placed  by 
the  Mound-Builders  before  their  idols. 

This  unique  specimen,  excites  in  the  mind  of  the  anti- 
quary, no  ordinary  interest.  No  remain  of  this  char- 
acter has  ever,  that  we  arc  aware,  been  found  or 
described.  Perfect  in  all  its  parts,  it  is  in  its  present 
condition  almost  wholly  unchanged  from  that,  in  which 
it  first  came  from  the  hand  of  its  maker.  The  stains  of 
centuries  are  upon  it. 

VI.  Shell  Ornament.  —  Five  and  a  quarter  inches 
in  length ;  and  four  and  a  half  inches  in  width ;  ovoi- 
dal  in  form ;  various  designs  chased  on  both  the  inner 
and  outer  side;  numerous  apertures  cut  —  some  circu- 
lar, others  elliptical.  It  was  probably  worn  as  an- orna- 
ment, suspended  from  the  neck.  The  impressions  cut 
upon  this  shell,  appear  to  indicate  the  fancy  and  taste  of 
the  artist,  rather  than  any  positive  attempt  at  represen- 


116  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

tation  of  any  particular  object  or  thing.  The  carved 
lines  may  be  hieroglyphical,  but  who  at  this  day,  will 
reveal  their  hidden  meaning  ? 

This  specimen  has  lain  for  so  many  years  subjected  to 
the  vicissitudes  of  climate,  that  it  has  been  almost  con- 
verted into  a  chalky  condition.  These  shell  ornaments, 
and  domestic  utensils  formed  of  this  material,  have  been 
exhumed  and  found  in  many  portions  of  our  country. 

Upon  the  sea-coast,  the  muscle,  oyster,  and  clam 
shells,  were  used  as  coverings  for  the  sepulchral  mounds. 
In  some  instances,  as  in  the  case  of  that  large  tumulus 
upon  Stalling's  Island,  in  the  Savannah  River,  the  bi- 
valves and  other  shells  of  the  stream,  enter  as  a  very 
important  element  into  the  construction  of  the  mound. 

Among  the  articles  of  antiquity  found  in  the  ancient 
works,  which  formerly  existed  where  the  city  of  Cincin- 
nati now  stands,  Dr.  Drake  enumerates  several  large 
marine  shells,  belonging  perhaps  to  the  genus  buccinum, 
cut  in  such  a  manner  as  to  serve  for  domestic  utensils. 

Other  shells  have  been  exhumed,  which  are  supposed 
by  some  to  be  similar  to  the  sacred  chanka  of  the  Hin- 
dus. It  is  a  well  ascertained  fact,  that  some  tribes  of 
the  American  Indians,  used  sea  shells  as  drinking  cups. 
These  were  not  unfrequently  buried  with  the  dead,  in 
order  that  they  might,  in  connection  with  their  other 
utensils,  serve  them  in  the  land  of  spirits. 

*  See   Bertram's  Travels,  pp.    150,  451. 


MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA.  117 

William  Bartram  *  minutely  describes  the  ceremony 
of  imbibing  the  black-drink  from  conch,  shells  —  a  custom 
which  obtained  among  the  Creeks. 

James  Adair*  also  alludes  to  a  similar  use  of  that 
shell,  when  the  Indians,  with  set  formalities,  and  estab- 
lished solemnities,  drink  an  infusion  of  cussena. 

Dr.  Atwater  mentions  the  fact,  that  nine  murex  shells, 
similar  to  those  described  by  Sir  William  Jones  in  his 
"  Asiatic  Researches,"  and  by  Symmes  in  his  "Embassy 
to  Ava,"  have  been  found  within  twenty  miles  of  Lex- 
ington, Kentucky,  in  an  ancient  work.  Their  compo- 
nent parts  remain  unchanged,  and  they  were  in  an  excel- 
lent state  of  preservation. 

Of  the  thicker  portions  of  the  muscle  shells,  beads 
were  fashioned  ;  while  from  periwinkles  and  small  conch 
shells,  were  formed  ornaments  for  the  wrists  and  ankles. 
These  remains  abound  in  the  smaller  tumuli,  in  the 
graves  and  burial  places  which  exist  in  many  localities  in 
the  valleys  of  the  Etowah  and  the  Oostanaula,  and  else- 
where. The  present  specimen  however,  appears  to  have 
been  made  from  a  shell  much  larger  than  any  that  now 
exists  in  this  region.  It  was  formed  simply  of  the  cen- 
tral portion,  and  is  slightly  convex. 

We  are  enabled  upon  an  examination  of  this  relic, 
readily  to  conjecture,  not  only  the  size  of  the  shell  in  its 
original  condition,  but  also  its  origin;  and  the  deduction 

*  See  Adair's  Historj',  &c,   p.  46. 


118  MONUMENTAL   REMAINS   OF   GEORGIA. 

seems  both  reasonable  and  necessary,  to  ascribe  to  it  a 
marine  character. 

Specimens  of  a  similar  nature  have  been  recently  ex- 
humed, in  an  ancient  mound  located  at  the  head  of  the 
Coosa  River,  and  within  the  corporate  limits  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Rome,  in  Floyd  County.  We  are  inclined  to 
refer  this  relic  to  the  handiwork,  and  to  the  era  of  the 
Mound-Builders. 

VII.  Fragments  of  Isinglass  (mica  membranacea.) 
Of  this  material,  the  Mound-Builders  constructed  their 
looking  glasses.  Dr.  Atwater  states,  that  within  his  own 
knowledge,  he  has  met  with  them  in  fifty  places.  Be- 
sides the  large  and  very  elegant  one  at  Circleville,  and 
the  fragments  at  Cincinnati,  he  found  more  or  less  of 
these  mirrors  in  all  the  mounds  which  have  been  opened 
in  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio,  Mississippi,  &c.  They  were 
common  among  that  people,  and  answered  very  wTell 
the  purpose  for  which  they  were  intended.  These  mir- 
rors were  very  thick,  as  otherwise  they  would  not  have 
reflected  the  light.* 

The  Isinglass  mirror  —  the  most  remarkable  as  yet 
discovered,  —  found  at  Circleville,  in  the  Scioto  Valley, 
twenty -six  miles  south  of  Columbus,  is  described  as 
being  about  three  feet  in  length  —  one  foot  and  a  half 
in  breadth  —  and  one  inch  and  a  half  in  thickness  — 
and  on  it,  a  plate  of  iron  which  had  become  an  oxyde.f 


*  See  Archcjeologia   Americana,  Vol.  I,  p.  225. 
•{•  See   Archaeologia  Americana,  Vol.  I,  p.  173. 


MONUMENTAL    REMAINS   OF    GEORGIA.  119 

The  present  specimens,  although  in  the  main  devoid 
of  regularity  of  form,  nevertheless  indicate  an  inten- 
tional and  not  an  accidental  origin.  One  in  particular, 
was  found  upon  the  very  summit  of  the  largest  tumulus. 

VIII.  Stone  Pestles. 

IX.  Numerous  fragments  of  Pottery. 

X.  Head  and  Neck  of  Bird,  —  two  inches  and  a 
half  in  length  —  prominent  eyes — with  a  comb  upon 
the  top  of  the  head,  not  unlike  that  of  a  cock.  This 
specimen  of  clay  is  of  very  fine  texture  —  baked. 

XL  Various  little  Images  —  of  sun-dried  and 
baked  cloy — some  representing  the  human  figure,  with 
distorted  expression,  and  extravagant  features;  others 
in  imitation  of  the  heads  of  birds  and  wild  animals. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  these  remains  were  found 
simply  upon  the  surface  of  the  tumuli,  and  in  the  fields 
around  their  base,  we  may,  with  eager  expectation,  an- 
ticipate the  revelations  which  shall  be  brought  to  light, 
when  the  Herculean  task  of  exploring  them  even  to 
their  very  centres,  shall  have  been  undertaken  and  suc- 
cessfully accomplished. 


